


Episode 2-04 "Diplomatic Maneuvers"

by stgjr



Series: Undiscovered Frontier Season 2 - "Whispers of Destiny" [4]
Category: Multi-Fandom, Original Work, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 21:51:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11045037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: Robert attends a peace summit at Stargate Command with the Goa'uld System Lords.





	1. Chapter 1

**Teaser**

The _Starship Aurora_ quietly orbited the world dubbed Russell's Planet, Universe Designate R4A1, in the company of a handful of other local ships and defensive stations.

In the bowels of the kilometer-long starship, the green-eyed, dark-haired figure of the ship's captain was concerning himself with a matter outside of his duties toward his ship. Robert Dale was busy concentrating, wearing the training robes his security chief had procured for him and holding a wooden practice blade in his hands. Sweat covered his forehead and face, dripping into his eyes and messing with his vision.

Commander Meridina, said security chief, remained still. Her plain features were Human-looking, a source of many a confused blink from people who heard she was an alien, and she too was in a training robe. Her deep blue eyes looked to her other student in the Gersallian arts of _swevyra_ , Lieutenant Lucy Lucero, and stated, "You are not hesitating, but you have prolonged this duel. Why?"

Lucy had her own wooden blade at a ready position as she faced down Robert. Her curly dark hair had been gathered in a ponytail at the back of her head. Blue eyes remained focused on Robert, set in an oval-shaped face. Sweat glistened on her light bronze complexion. "I want to give him a chance," she said.

Robert kept his focus up. He could sense her plans, holding back to see what he would do, how he would attack. He forced his frustration down. Ever since this training with their " _swevyra_ " - with the strange powers that their "life force" had granted them, according to Meridina's own cultural tradition - he had felt second-best to Lucy. Granted, she had been training for at least five months longer, but he was approaching his fourth month of the training and his progress seemed to be slower than her own had been. Ever since Meridina had said he needed to train in these duels to learn finer control and focus, he had been repeatedly beaten by both of them. He simply couldn't read them well enough, or keep up with their enhanced speed and skill.

"It's frustrating, I know," Lucy said to him. "But you can't just stand there all day, Robert. Do you know how many weeks it took me before I put Meridina on her back?"

Robert replied with a frown. He forced a breath into his lungs. "You see everything I do before I do it," he said. "I don't see the point in attacking."

Meridina shook her head. "The point is not to attack or to defend. It is to learn to listen."

"Listen?" Robert looked at her. "Listen to…"

He felt it coming too late. After turning his head, his focus, to Meridina, he'd opened himself up, and Lucy took swift and complete advantage of his lapse. In a single strike she twisted his wooden blade impossibly, forcing it from his hand. Her leg curled under his feet at the shins. His feet lost contact with the training mat and he fell onto his back. The tip of Lucy's training blade went to his throat.

As she pulled it away, Robert made a growling noise of frustration. Before he could complain Lucy spoke first. "Listen to what's going on around you, for starters," she said. "Listen to what's _inside_ of you. Just like you did back in that Facility."

"You make it sound easy."

Lucy smiled thinly. She held her hand down toward him and helped Robert to his feet. "It's not," she admitted. "There are too many ways to distract yourself mentally."

"Indeed." Meridina stepped up to them. "This is why I train you with the blades. These matches teach and reinforce focus of mind, focus upon the _swevyra_."

"You mean the life force."

"That term in your language lacks meaning for what our word conveys," Meridina remarked. "As you must have felt by now."

She had something of a point, Robert decided. "Life force" was a clunky term to say. It implied a force that sustained life or embodied it, yes. But the connection to the wider universe he'd felt when using this power was more than that.

But at the same time, the Gersallian term just felt off. It didn't fit right in his speech. He had once had the computer's linguistics programs transliterate the term into English and the computer spat up about four different pronunciations of it with six different spellings. He'd settled on "swe-veee-ra" as sounding the closest to how Meridina pronounced it. Even that seemed somehow inadequate to him.

As for learning how to focus on it, Robert's comeback was, "Getting smacked with a wooden stick is not the easiest way I've heard of to learn focus."

"Pain can be a motivator," Meridina pointed out. "The important thing, Robert, is not winning. It is learning to listen."

"Which hopefully leads to winning."

Lucy shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I'm still at like a ten percent win ratio with Meridina." She gave Meridina a bemused look. "And sometimes I think half of those wins are her letting me win."

Meridina did not deign to respond to that allegation.

"So, again?", Robert asked. "I've got another hour before we meet with the Russell's Planet colonial government to find out just why they called us here."

Meridina held her hand out and reached for her own training blade. It flew gently through the air to her hand. "Yes. I think..."

She stopped speaking. A bewildered look crossed her face, a look that was not often seen on her usually-stoic features.

There was a feeling. Robert started to sense it too, as did Lucy. Not of danger. But that something was about to…

There was a buzzing sound in the air. And out of nowhere a white light appeared in the middle of their training area, A single figure appeared within it as the light peaked and flashed away. The figure was small, with a bulbous head and a gray tinge to its inhuman exterior. It was completely uncovered and almost looked like a toy that way, given the absolute lack of any attributes, sexual or otherwise. Solid black eyes looked to him and a thin arm and hand came up in a peaceful gesture.

Lucy's hand was starting to go toward her mutlidevice. Robert tensed up and felt his mind race. Where could this being have come from? Why had it transported directly and so suddenly into the gym, of all places.

Before anything else could be said or done, the being began to speak with a sort of monotone voice. And in perfect English.

"Greetings. You are Captain Robert Dale of the Allied Systems."

Robert got the feeling it wasn't a question. He nodded. "I am."

The being nodded. "Then it is important that we speak. I am Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard."

"The… Asgard?" Robert thought about that. That sounded familiar.

"Yes. I am the source of the transmissions requesting your vessel come to this world. I have come to speak with you and your Alliance on a matter of extreme urgency."

"Pretty extreme if you just beamed straight to our gym," Lucy remarked with a slight, sarcastic grin.

Meridina gave Lucy one of her looks of studied and direct patience.

Thor seemed unperturbed by the interruption. He went on. "This mission is of vital importance to your future. The fate of this galaxy's Earth, and possibly of your entire Alliance, may hang in the balance."

At that, Robert had only response he felt he could give.

"I'm listening."

 

**Undiscovered Frontier  
_"Diplomatic Maneuvers"_**

 

 _Ship's Log; 8 April 2642; ASV Aurora. Captain Robert Dale recording. We're still at Russell's Planet awaiting the arrival of a high ranking official of the Alliance Government, called here in light of what I was told by Supreme Commander Thor yesterday._

The space over Russell's Planet opened up with the generation of an interuniversal jump point. A single Dorei starbird emerged. The _Layama_ -class craft was not the same size as the _Aurora_ but possessed a power of its own in its pleasant grace and look, like an aloft great bird soaring through space.

Robert and Julia were waiting at Transporter Station 3 when the ship arrived. A transport beam appeared, a pillar of white light that formed into a Dorei man of about Julia's height. His skin was dark ocean blue, which highlighted the teal spots running down his hairline and jaw down to his neck. Pale teal hair flowed over the back of his neck into an elaborate braid. His suit was of yellow and bronze, with purple trimming and a deep purple vest. Dark purple eyes looked at them in sequence, rimmed by the weary lines of the aged. "Captain Dale. Commander Andreys."

"Minister Onaran." Robert nodded to him. Lentiro Onaran was a respected Dorei statesman, a former First Minister of the Dorei Federation and former High Minister of the Leturan Republics, one of the internal Dorei states. Onaran had been a major player in the formation of the Alliance and had joined the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary to President Morgan. "Welcome aboard."

"Yes. I would like to dispense with the usual pleasantries and formalities, Captain," Onaran announced. "Your report to Admiral Maran indicates the situation requires immediate attention."

Robert nodded. "If you'll follow us, I've called my command crew for a meeting to discuss Thor's information."

"And will this Asgard being show himself?"

"He told me he would be ready to meet," Robert confirmed. "But we still haven't identified where his ship is yet."

"Concerning. What do we know of this species? Are they potentially hostile?"

"Our Science Officer, Lieutenant Delgado, has consulted what remains of our Darglan databases," Julia began to say as they emerged into the corridors of the ship. "From what we've seen, the Darglan considered the Asgard to be friendly. They traded technology with them during their time of multiversal exploration."

"But not interuniversal technology," Onaran pointed out.

"The Darglan apparently didn't give that to anyone," Robert remarked. "Even the Gersallians, and the Gersallians saw them as mentors."

"Yes." Onaran nodded. It needn't be said that the Dorei had for a long while, after their Unification Wars, seen the Gersallians as _their_ mentor species. "Well, let us see what the Asgard have to say."

 

 

 

The briefing room on the _Aurora_ was chosen, giving wider sitting space and room for the arrival of Thor. The command crew of the _Aurora_ and that of the _Koenig_ were seated at a series of tables looking at a central holotank. Generally the holotank was used for presentations and briefings. For the moment it was blank, projecting nothing.

Onaran was shown to a central seat at the central table, where Robert and Julia joined him and Zack. Jarod was at the nearest table with Lucy, Cat, and Scotty. Leo sat with Angel, Nick Locarno, and the _Aurora_ 's Wing Command Officer Commander Patrice Laurent. Zack's officers - Lieutenant Creighton Apley, Lieutenants Magda Navaez, Karen Derbely, and April Sherlily, and the Dorei Doctor Opani - were gathered at the last table.

They had barely a moment to settle in before there was a short buzzing sound, followed by a sudden pillar of white light shifting into place to a deep electronic "vweee". The central place in the room was now occupied by the Asgard named Thor. "Robert Dale and crew. I am Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard. I have come to assist you in a matter of grave importance."

Caterina was almost vibrating with excitement in her chair. "An Asgard," she said, holding back barely-constrained enthusiasm. "An actual… I've got so many questions!"

Robert smiled gently at her before looking to their visitor. "Supreme Commander Thor, this is Foreign Secretary Lentiro Onaran of the Alliance, sent on behalf of our government."

"Greetings, Supreme Commander," Onaran said, inclining his head.

"It is good that you are here. We are faced with a matter requiring delicate diplomatic handling. You are aware of the Goa'uld System Lords?"

Leo gave the most visceral reaction, frowning deeply. Losing Joshua Marik to his illness was still a fresh wound, and the Goa'uld had come so close to imposing another defeat on him in their prior adventure in this cosmos. Robert nodded and answered, "Yes, we are. We faced a couple at Abydos. Heru'ur and Apophis."

"Yes." Thor inclined his head. He then turned to the holotank and held up a device in his hand. Light bridged the two devices and the holotank displayed a bald man wearing golden finery that looked like it belonged to the Bronze Age. Above it was another figure, a woman with a tanned bronze explosion and long dark hair.

"Sha're," Julia remarked.

"You refer to the former host of the Goa'uld Amaunet," Thor stated. "Whom you extracted from her host without consent."

"Fitting, since she took Sha're as host without consent," Leo pointed out.

"That said, your ability to do so and to save the host is a matter of concern to the System Lords," Thor stated. "Your technology has also drawn their attention. Specifically, this vessel, and its main armament."

Julia nodded. "Heru'ur ran when we hit him with our pulse plasma cannons. His ship had been taking hits from everything else."

"Indeed. Your nuclear-disruption energy weapons, while potent, are not a concern to the Goa'uld. The weapons you employ on this ship are, however, as they prove you have the capability to threaten the Goa'uld in space. The System Lords cannot abide this state of affairs." Thor waved his hand again. Another woman, also wearing the kind of Bronze Age-looking garb that seemed the staple of the Goa'uld, appeared. "And there is the matter of Earth. We too have encountered their Stargate Command. I believe you are familiar with Colonel Jack O'Neill and the SG-1 team?"

There were nods in reply. "We are," Robert replied verbally.

"They recently had a conflict with the former System Lord Hathor," Thor explained. "She was killed as a result. With this victory and their earlier defeat of the System Lord Apophis, they too have come to the attention of the System Lords. Now the System Lords fear that your Alliance will work with the Humans of Earth to threaten their empire. They will not let this come to pass, and have begun mobilizing their fleets to attack both your worlds and Earth itself."

A deep oppressive silence filled the room. "How big of an attack?", Julia asked.

"Hundreds of their strongest motherships. Each of greater power than the small vessel Heru'ur took with him to Abydos," Thor explained. With a wave of his hand on the holotank a massive vessel appeared, a pyramid-shaped primary hull with a gray secondary hull above the base of the pyramid.

Robert swallowed. Heru'ur's ship had seemed, if not their equal, then at least close to it. "Basically, hundreds of dreadnoughts," he said.

Thor considered that remark. "I believe you would rate these vessels at the same scale as the strongest of your 'dreadnoughts', yes. And while your own technology is formidable, the Goa'uld have acquired advanced technology over their millennia of scavenging the galaxy. You do not currently have the capability to stand against them on even terms."

"And that's not counting the fact that we are already in one big war," Julia added, sighing.

"Supreme Commander, I thank you for this warning," Onaran said. "Given your prior remarks I believe you consider diplomacy as a way to prevent this attack?"

Thor directed his dark eyes to Onaran. "We do, Secretary. The Asgard High Council has contacted the System Lords on this matter. We are preparing to provide them concessions in exchange for placing Earth under the Protected Planets Treaty, and to secure a non-interference pact and peace treaty between the Goa'uld System Lords and your Alliance of Systems."

"A non-interference pact?", Jarod asked.

"The terms will have to be discussed, but in general, it would forbid either side from interfering with the other's internal matters. The peace treaty would in turn protect either side from the other launching an attack directly."

"So we wouldn't be allowed to pull any Goa'ulds out of their hosts," Nick remarked.

"Or help people who are trying to fight them," Angel added.

"Yes," Thor stated. "Anything less will be insufficient to prevent a Goa'uld attack upon both your Alliance and Earth."

"It's bad enough that we have to worry about the Nazis inevitably finding how to work IU drives." Julia shook her head. "I don't want to even begin to think about the Goa'uld getting them."

"We would be interested in such an outcome, yes," Onaran said. "Are the Goa'uld ready to commence talks?"

"They have accepted my invitation to meet on Earth, in Stargate Command," Thor explained. "In four standard days. You will also be invited to participate in these discussions. Specifically you."

Thor looked directly at Robert.

Robert blinked. "Me?"

"You were in command of the mission to Abydos. Your vessel attacked Heru'ur."

"Julia's the one who punched him though," Zack pointed out.

"Perhaps. But the Goa'uld will be conscious of rank. Captain Dale led the mission in question. And he is of equivalent rank to the Earth member of the talks."

"And that would be?", Onaran asked.

Robert sensed the answer before Thor gave it. It made the most sense. "Jack O'Neill," he said.

"Correct." Thor nodded to him. "You and Colonel O'Neill will represent your people in this negotiation. You will be expected to be present in the SGC facility on Earth by that time."

Robert drew in a breath. He wasn't new to diplomacy now, but the stakes weren't usually quite this high. "Okay. Nick." He looked to Locarno. "We're what, about eighteen hours from Earth at standard warp?"

"Nineteen and a half," Locarno corrected.

"I am afraid you cannot have your vessel present at Earth," Thor said. "The Goa'uld will regard it as a threat."

"Would they know?", Angel asked. "If they're going to be in the SGC the entire time?"

"They would have ways of determining your presence," Thor informed them.

"Then I'll take the _Koenig_ ," Robert said. "It can make it to Earth in four days too, and it's not a big ship."

"I am afraid any Alliance vessel present may be regarded as unacceptable. Only my ship will be allowed to be present. I am prepared to transport you myself. Although for the purpose of diplomacy, it may be advisable to travel by Stargate."

Robert's brow lifted at that. Use the Stargate itself? They'd never done that before. "The SGC has defenses, are they expecting us?"

"I have informed them you would be requested to join the talks," Thor stated. "And I suspect you have your own means of identifying your presence to them."

"We gave SG-1 a code for communications," Julia reminded Robert. "All you have to do is transmit it through the gate and wait for a coded reply, they should let you through."

"Alright." Robert put his hands together. He was really starting to feel uncertain about this. "Anything else?"

"No weapons will be permitted within the SGC during the negotiations. You must go unarmed."

"Oh come on," Angel protested. "Will the Goa'uld be unarmed?"

"Likely. They will honor the same terms, because they know that you would not risk harm to them," Thor explained.

"Am I limited in who can go?", Robert asked.

"I would suggest that your entourage be small," Thor advised. "Only three Goa'uld will be attending. You should not have more than four or five of your people."

"So myself, Secretary Onaram…" Robert looked around at the others. "Meridina to help with security, Lucy to assist her. And Doctor Opani if we need medical backup."

Leo gave Robert a slight look. Robert sighed and added, "Leo, you yanked one of them out, remember? I can't have you there, that would be as much an unspoken threat as anything else."

"Alright," Leo said, conceding the point.

"Your selections are well-considered, Captain." Thor turned off the holotank. "I will inform Earth and the Goa'uld that you are attending." He set upon the nearby table an item. "This will download into your systems a list of those Goa'uld System Lords attending the talks. Again, we meet in four standard days. Farewell."

There was another electronic buzzing sound, another flash of light, and Thor was gone.

"It looks like the Darglan developed their transporters off of Asgard tech too," Caterina said. "I wonder how much technology the Darglan got from them?"

Derbely chimed in. "If you ask me, Lieutenant, the real question is what the Darglan had to offer to them, if they didn't give them IU drives."

"Yeah, that's a good one."

Robert looked over the stone-like device Thor left. He picked it up. "Jarod, Cat, load this into a secured system so Secretary Onaram and I can see what we're up against. Nick, please get up to the bridge and set a course for Abydos, standard warp."

"We should be there with about a day to spare," Nick said. He stood from his chair. "If we go faster I can shave time off."

"It's probably best if you don't," Onaram said. "We will need time to examine this data and speak with the President on it."

"We'll also want time to speak with the SGC and Earth authorities about our plan," Robert pointed out.

Onaram tilted his head for a moment. "I see what you are thinking. But we must consider Alliance interests as well. We are in a delicate situation, Captain. If our interests demand an agreement that the Earth authorities want to refuse, we will be forced to stand apart from them."

"Wait." Zack stared. "You're saying that we might _abandon_ these people to the Goa'uld?!"

"I would prefer not to," Onaram insisted, turning his gaze to Zack. "But if they are intransigent, we may be forced to. We are already in one war Commander. We cannot fight a second one, especially not against a foe with this much power."

Julia let out a sigh. "I hate it, but he's right. Hopefully whomever Colonel O'Neill answers to will have the same view and we can make an agreement work."

"At what cost, though?", asked Jarod.

"Any cost that is bearable in this situation," Onaram replied. "That is our duty Commander, though it might pain our hearts."

Robert frowned. As much as he hated the thought of giving in to the slaving evil of the Goa'uld System Lords, he knew Onaram was right too. There were all sorts of concessions he might have to give to them for peace.

He just hoped he could stomach it.

 

 

A day out from Abydos, Zack was sitting in the Lookout staring out at the streaking lights of the warp field effect around them. A plate of cold cut meat sandwiches and potato chips was sitting half-eaten before him.

"Ye dinnae seem very hungry, lad."

The accent was a dead give away. Zack smiled slightly and looked over to where Scott was standing beside the table, a tray with his own lunch in his hands. He was wearing his usual non-standard uniform, a white jersey under a black engineering vest with Commander rank insignia on the vest. Zack motioned to him to sit and looked out the window again for a moment. "She's running like a dream, isn't she?"

"Aye." The old man nodded. "Still a beauty, she is. So, what's troublin' ye?"

Zack's smile remained on his face, but it had a thoughtful, even sad quality to it. "A little restless, I guess," he admitted. "On the one hand, it's great to have access to facilities without having to beam anywhere. And to have full-size quarters again. But since we've been back, the _Koenig_ 's spent almost the entire time in dock."

"That it has. Tom an' that lass Derbely did a right fine job o' keepin' her up while ye were with those Colonials, but th' gal needed that wee bit o' downtime."

"Yeah. But it's been a couple of months now. I was starting to hope we'd get out there for a while. Run a few missions."

"What has ye so restless, Zachary?", Scott asked. "Not thinkin' of wantin' t' leave again, are ye?"

Zack almost denied it right off, but stopped himself. He couldn't honestly say no, could he? "The thought's crossed my mind a bit, yeah," he admitted. "But I know how much that hurt Rob and the others. We've been a group for ages. Running off on them again…" Zack shook his head. "I think it'd hurt them too much."

That prompted a nod from the older man. Scott finished the bite he was chewing with a quick swallow before he asked, "An' this widnae happen t' be about that sweet lass Tom says ye were seein' all th' time, wid it?" There was a knowing grin on the old engineer's face.

Zack matched the grin. "Clara," he said.

"The lass at yer father's funeral?"

"The same. She's working with the Fleet as a nurse." Zack looked out the window again for a moment. "Being with her made me think of my life so far. I mean, I've chased girls since I had the urge to, been with quite a few of them… but I don't think I ever really considered the idea of settling down with one. Not usually."

"Really?"

"Well…" Zack felt an old ache in his heart. "There is one. A girl who, if she'd ever asked me, I would have given up everything for. Someone I've truly loved for a long time. But she's never been interested in me. Not that way. And she made it pretty clear she would never be. But Clara… Clara is."

"Ah." Scott nodded. "An' that has ye thinkin'."

"It does."

"Well, lad, it's nae very easy t' balance out this sort o' life with havin' a lass an' a family of yer own," Scott pointed out. "So ye'll be workin' hard tae make that work, if that's yer choice."

Zack nodded at him. "So I guess the question is… is it worth it?"

"I cannae answer that one, lad. Dinnae think anyone can except for yeself."

"Yeah." Zack looked back out at the streaks zipping by. "You're right about that."

 

 

 

The meetings with Onaram were taking place in the same chamber, Briefing Room 1, that Thor had spoken to them in before the departure for Abydos. Robert, Meridina, Lucy, and Opani all sat around the table while Onaram took the main seat, looking directly at the holotank.

President Henry Morgan's face filled the holo-image above the tank. His dark skin was creased with thought and age, giving him the visage of a man long-used to the stresses of statesmanship. Robert thought he looked a bit older than he'd been on their first meeting about two and a half years before, when Morgan had been a leading foreign secretary for the Earth Confederacy of his home universe sent to negotiate over what became the United Alliance of Systems.

"Thor's information has given us an idea on what to expect from the System Lords negotiating this arrangement," Onaram said. "The one known as Yu will be the most agreeable to an arrangement, as he has few interests in this region of the galaxy. Nirrti is the most aggressive and the most likely to be hostile. Cronus will thus be the one to determine the outcome, we expect."

" _Do you have any idea what they will require of us?_ "

Onaram looked to Robert, who sighed. "We believe it highly likely they will require us to forswear removing any more Goa'uld from their hosts, as Doctor Gillam did to Amaunet last year. Restrictions on expansion and on relations with other species are also likely."

"They'll probably want us to drop any links to the SGC," Robert continued. "Thor seems to think that they're afraid we'll turn Earth into a force to use against them."

" _An interesting fear given our relative lack of involvement with Earth in that universe_ ," Morgan noted. " _Perhaps it is for the best that we have kept our relations with them on a small scale. As for this business, if that is the limit of their terms, we will adhere to them._ "

"I think we'll be lucky if that's it." Robert shook his head. "Given how full of themselves the Goa'uld can be, they're not going to let us off easy." A bit of guilt flashed through him. When they'd faced Apophis, he hadn't been very diplomatic at all. They'd presented Apophis with his mutilated queen in a cylinder and he had threatened to do the same if Apophis made any further attacks. _That was not my finest moment._

" _How far out are you?_ ," Morgan asked.

"We arrive at Abydos tonight," Robert replied. "We're due to go through the Stargate tomorrow morning, just before the Goa'uld are due to arrive. Thor made it clear that they might get suspicious if we arrive too much earlier than they."

" _And you have the communications equipment you'll need to keep contact?_ "

"We'll have a subspace radio capable of patching in to our IU transceiver on Russell's Planet," Robert assured him.

" _Good. Let me know of any final terms being mandated. Secretary Onaram will provide immediate consultations on all other matters. He knows the Cabinet's decisions on this matter._ "

Robert nodded. "Understood, Mister President."

" _Good luck, Mister Secretary, Captain. I don't need to tell you what it will mean if we can't get an agreement. Morgan out._ "

The President's image disappeared.

"What _is_ the plan if the Goa'uld demand too much?", Lucy asked. "If they demand we give them a new host for Amaunet or even new hosts in general? Or if they want the IU jump drive?"

Onaram frowned slightly. "As humiliating as it may seem, our backup plan is immediate evacuation."

"As in, we evacuate R4A1," Opani clarified.

"Exactly, Doctor. All colonies will be abandoned. Any sensitive technology we can't remove will be destroyed."

"And the Earth in this galaxy will be left to its own devices," Meridina noted.

Onaram nodded. "Sadly, yes. This is, of course, only a final resort. If the Goa'uld prove reasonable, and their terms are those we can reasonably accept, we'll be able to maintain our presence in this universe. And the resources we have to gain from the worlds and systems we have claimed are of use in the war effort. Abandoning these systems will complicate our war construction."

"But not vitally?"

Onaram shook his head. "No."

"Then we have at least some leeway. If their price gets too high, the Alliance can always leave." Robert's frown made it clear he didn't necessarily like that.

"And leave Earth to the mercy of the System Lords?", Lucy asked.

Robert shook his head. "It might be better than giving the Goa'uld a shot at getting our technology."

"That is our assessment," Onaram said. "May I suggest we go over the material one more time before we adjourn?"

"Right." Robert picked up his digital reader. "So Yu is supposedly one of the most senior of the Goa'uld. The Asgard information indicates he is something of a conservative on expansion and is generally content with what he controls…"

 

 

 

The next morning Robert woke up and felt stirring beside him. He turned and gently laid a hand on Angel's bare shoulder. "Hey."

She turned her head. Her hazel eyes were dulled with sleepyness, but she was awake. "Hey."

He could sense the stirring of emotion inside of her, just as he had before they'd fallen asleep. When they had been making love. His ability to sense emotions, to sense what was coming, through the life force powers he was learning, it had changed everything for him in their relationship. An irony since it was the single greatest strain on that relationship now.

"I know you wish you could come to," he said. "But our group can't be that large."

"And you need Meridina for her mind-reading stuff," Angel sighed.

"Yeah. Just in case. And Lucy's got a handle on some of that too." Robert frowned. "And just in case this is a setup, having two people who can fight without weapons could be useful."

Angel's eyes now glistened. "I can fight without weapons." The reminder was laced with anger and frustration.

"You can't throw someone across a room with a gesture." Sensing her emotions growing negative, Robert attempted levity. "A glare, yeah. You can make anyone gulp with that 'I'm going to kick your ass' glare you have. But that might not work on the Goa'uld."

Angel let out a growl and snarled slightly. She turned in the bed. "Yeah. Fine. You're right. I don't have weird mojo like you and Meridina and Lucy do. I'm not as good as they are, yeah."

Robert bit into his lip. "I didn't mean to…"

"Just go, Rob. Do your job." Angel didn't turn. "I'll be fine."

But not happy. Robert could feel that, and he didn't even need that knowledge to know it anyway. But there was nothing more to say. He got out of the bed and went for the shower.

Angel remained where she lay. She felt angry. Angry and ashamed. This… power… had changed everything for Rob, and for her. They'd gotten back together because, out here, any day something could happen to one or both of them. But now, between this and their duties… it was sometimes like they shouldn't have even bothered trying again. There weren't enough hours in the day for the two of them now.

Try as she might to fight the thought, it still haunted her. That this time wouldn't be unlike the others. That, yet again, she and Robert weren't going to last together. It would end again. Just like it had before.

By the time Robert came back out of the shower to get ready, Angel had gotten her things and left for her quarters. He sighed and went over to the bed for a moment. He didn't need to pick up the pillow she'd left behind to know it was now damp.

The wet spots left by Angel's tears were proof enough of that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert attends a peace summit at Stargate Command with the Goa'uld System Lords.

Julia and Zack beamed down with them to see everyone off. Leo joined, if only to say goodbye before visiting the clinic left in the Abydonians' village after their last visit. "Take care of my CMO, Rob," Zack insisted, smiling at Opani. The young Dorei woman blushed a faint blue against her dark teal skin.  
  
"Of course we will," Robert promised.  
  
"We'll be waiting for word from you, whatever happens," Julia promised.  
  
Robert nodded in thanks.  
  
"Good luck." Julia embraced him in a hug. Lucy got one as well. Julia looked to Meridina. "Please, take care of them."  
  
Meridina nodded with understanding. "I will, of course. You may be certain of that."  
  
Satisfied, Julia nodded and stepped back to the DHD. She checked her multi-device to confirm again the address for Earth. One by one she found the symbols on the ancient console and keyed them in, causing them to light up. When seven had been punched in, she pressed a hand to the red orb in the middle of the console.  
  
Robert could feel energy shift in the air. A lot of it. The great ring of naqia that dominated the chamber flared up with energy. Blue energy coalesced within the ring, followed by a massive, water-like geyser that rushed out toward them before being sucked back in. A portal that rippled like fluid had formed, just like it had before.  
  
Lucy operated her multi-device. "I'm sending our coded recognition signal now." For several seconds there was no response. But just before Robert could decide to ask about it, Lucy grinned and nodded. "Reply sent. They're ready for us."  
  
Robert stepped up toward the Stargate. "I'll go first," he said.  
  
"No." Meridina moved ahead of him. She looked back. "I will. Once you confirm my multidevice is still transmitting and functioning, you may follow." Seeing Robert's look, she gave a smirk, which was admittedly not something they often saw on her face. "I am the security chief, remember? It is my duty to secure your lives."  
  
"Right." Robert nodded. "My apologies."  
  
"None needed," she assured him sweetly. Meridina promptly turned and went into the Stargate. It rippled around her point of entry.  
  
Lucy nodded. "She's through. I'm still picking up her multidevice." After a moment she shrugged. "And I can still feel her with my life force as well."  
  
Robert nodded. He thought he could sense it too, even though Meridina had just been transported by stable wormhole across vast light years. "Mister Secretary?"  
  
"I am behind you, Captain," Onaram confirmed.  
  
Robert drew in a breath and stepped up to the Stargate. It felt almost like stepping into water, if just for a brief moment. As if the surface was slightly resisting him like the surface of water might.  
  
And then there was a strange coldness within him. Light streaked through his vision for a long series of seconds.  
  
Suddenly it was over. His uniform shoes caused a metallic echo to ring in the air. He was standing on a metal walkway now. The shimmering light of the Stargate was illuminating the far walls and windows. With a sweep of his eyes Robert could see he had arrived in a gray-walled chamber facing a control room. It looked like what you would expect for an underground bunker.  
  
Meridina was waiting for him halfway down the walkway leading up to the Stargate. Beyond her was a line of figures. Robert recognized the four members of SG-1 immediately. They were joined by a balding older man with general's stars on his uniform - General Hammond, presumably - and a middle-aged man in a civilian business suit wearing glasses. Men and women in BDUs were at various positions in the room.  
  
Behind Robert there were sounds along the lines of _glorp_ , three in succession. He looked back briefly to confirm that Secretary Onaram had come through with Lucy and Opani. A number of those present stared intently at the two Dorei.  
  
 _Oh well_ , Robert thought. _Time to get to business._ "Colonel O'Neill, it's good to see you again," he said.  
  
"Likewise, Captain," Jack answered. "This is my commanding officer, General Hammond."  
  
Robert and the others straightened their postures, the agreed upon Alliance equivalent of a salute. "General. I'm Captain Robert Dale of the _Starship Aurora_."  
  
"General George Hammond, Stargate Command," Hammond answered. His drawl was Southern, or rather Texan Robert thought. The blue color of his uniform jacket and trousers were US Air Force. "A pleasure to finally meet you, Captain."  
  
"Same here, General."  
  
"This is Secretary of Defense Arthur Simms," Hammond explained, gesturing to the man in the civilian suit.  
  
Simms was clearly struggling to stop staring at the Dorei in their group. "I've read SG-1s report on your people, Captain. The entire idea of this 'Multiverse', as you call it, and all of the civilizations and nations… it's really quite extraordinary."  
  
"And it never loses that luster, Mister Secretary," Robert answered, smiling. "General, Mister Secretary, this is Foreign Secretary Lentiro Onaram, here to represent President Morgan and direct our side of the negotiations."  
  
"But he won't be at the table, will he?" Jack asked.  
  
"Indeed not," Onaram said. He nodded to the others before offering his hand to Simms, who accepted it. Hammond did so afterward. Both had bewildered, surprised looks on their faces afterward.  
  
Robert looked at Onaram with renewed respect. Dorei… didn't do handshakes, really, not as casually as Humans did anyway. Their psionic abilities included enhanced empathic sensing with skin-to-skin contact, so natural that to initiate even a handshake was a gesture of respect and openness for a Dorei. They were literally allowing you to get a glimpse at their feelings.  
  
"Quite the gesture, Mister Secretary," Meridina noted. Seeing the looks on the Earth side's faces, she elaborated. "Dorei can share emotions, even thoughts, with skin contact. By offering you a handshake in the Human fashion, Secretary Onaram was showing immense trust in you."  
  
"That's… quite the gesture indeed."  
  
"It seemed appropriate for our circumstances."  
  
Robert looked to Meridina. "General, Mister Secretary, this is Commander Meridina, my chief of security. Lieutenant Lucy Lucero is an operations officer with some expertise of value to the security role. And Doctor Roliri Opani is along to assist if there are any medical emergencies. She's the Medical Officer for the _Koenig_."  
  
"What, you didn't bring Doctor Gillam?", Jack asked.  
  
Daniel Jackson, standing between Samantha Carter and Teal'c, joined in, remarking, "Somehow I suspect the Goa'uld wouldn't be pleased having him around given what he did to Amaunet."  
  
"That was how we thought about it, yeah," Robert admitted. "Thor also advised us to keep our ships away. The Goa'uld would take it badly or something to that extent."  
  
"Yeah, he made some suggestions our way as well," Jack said. "Anyway, Mister Secretary." Jack was looking to Onaram now. "I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill and this is my team. Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c."  
  
Onaram nodded to them. He offered a handshake to each. All but Teal'c accepted, with Teal'c instead nodding his head in respect. Robert nevertheless got the feeling he was Not Happy.  
  
"Congratulations, Major Carter," Robert said once Onaram was done.  
  
"Thank you," she answered back.  
  
"How long do we have until the Goa'uld arrive?", Lucy asked.  
  
"Enough time to get you settled in," Hammond replied. "Doctor Jackson, if you could do the honors?"  
  
"We have quarters set aside for you inside the SGC," he explained, leading them toward the right hand door leading out of the Stargate chamber. "As will the Goa'uld."  
  
"I can't imagine they'll enjoy barracks-style accommodations," Robert said.  
  
"No, they probably won't," Daniel sighed. "We've done a lot of work trying to pretty everything up to something close to what a Goa'uld might expect. But I'm pretty sure there will be complaints."  
  
"I appreciate all efforts made on our behalf," Onaram noted. Robert got the feeling Onaram probably wouldn't be enthused with his living area either, but would be more of a diplomat with his reaction to it.  
  
"How is your child?", asked Meridina.  
  
"Little Leo?" Daniel smiled thinly. "He's doing well. Sha're is with him all the time. They're back at my apartment while this is going on."  
  
"Of course." Meridina nodded. "It pleases me to know they are well. And Leonard will find the news comforting."  
  
  
Robert sighed. "Hrm?" The inquiry was from Jack, so Robert answered. "Leo lost a patient a few weeks ago. A kid with leukemia. He's still broken up about it."  
  
"Ah." Jack nodded. "I can understand that." The look on Jack's face explained his decision to swiftly change the subject. "So, how's everyone else doing? I hope your buddy Zack has learned some new insults, I'd hate to see him break out 'Baldy' again…"  
  
  
  
Upon returning to the _Aurora_ , Zack followed Julia into her Deck 3 office. "Are we really just going to sit here?", he asked.  
  
"Those are the orders," she replied. "If anything's wrong, they'll communicate it to us."  
  
"But how will we help?", Zack asked. "Even if we go through the Stargate, that assumes they control it on the other end. If this is some sort of trick, or trap, we could end up walking into a Goa'uld trap on the other end."  
  
Julia had been picking up her digital pad to begin looking over paperwork for the day. She looked up from it. "I won't disagree with that. On the other hand, we can't jeopardize these talks."  
  
"There won't be any Goa'uld ships nearby," Zack reminded her. "And I'll keep the _Koenig_ outside of the heliopause. We'll still be close enough to warp right to Earth orbit if we need to."  
  
Julia seemed to think on it. "No," she finally said.  
  
"Julie!"  
  
"Not that close," she said. "Promise me you'll stay at least one light-day out."  
  
Zack rolled his eyes. "It'll take us longer to go in if we're needed."  
  
"Not that much longer. You could be there within half an hour at Warp 3. A high warp jump could still get you there in minutes." Julia met him eye to eye. "One light-day. Take it or leave it."  
  
Zack frowned in frustration. And then he sighed. "Fine."  
  
"And bring Leo," Julia said. "Just in case. I'll have his subordinates load a surgical module onto the _Koenig_ before you leave."  
  
"Right." Zack nodded. "I'll get my crew ready." He turned toward the door.  
  
"Zack."  
  
He looked back to her. Julia's green eyes focused on him. "Be safe," she said. "And good luck."  
  
Zack nodded. "Thanks."  
  
He left, and Julia returned to the paperwork.  
  
  
  
  
Meridina and Daniel accompanied Robert and Jack back to the Stargate chamber for the scheduled arrival of the Goa'uld. "So, Thor insisted you be the one at the table?", Jack asked.  
  
"He did." Robert shook his head. "It confuses the hell out of me, honestly. Julia was the one leading the team that faced Heru'ur. I never even saw the guy."  
  
"Yeah, well, you didn't miss much. These Goa'uld all tend to be the same. They all do that 'Bow and worship me for I am a god' thing."  
  
"Well, they're used to bullying pre-industrial societies, I guess they would be seen as gods." Robert frowned. "And now we have to make nice with them."  
  
"I was actually going to bring that up," Daniel said. "Why, exactly, is the Alliance so ready to make a deal with the Goa'uld?"  
  
"We're already in one war," Robert sighed. "It's taking enough of our efforts to fight off the Nazis, we can't…"  
  
"Wait. Woh, back it up there." Jack turned his head and faced him directly. "Did you just say 'Nazis'?"  
  
Robert nodded. "I did."  
  
"As in the whole ' _Heil Hitler_ ' goose-stepping black-wearing German guys?"  
  
"Well, it's apparently ' _Heil Sauckel_ ' now," Robert replied. "But yes. They're a space-faring Nazi Germany in a universe where Hitler won World War II, and Nazi Germany gradually came to dominate the world."  
  
Jack looked at him intently. "You've got to be joking."  
  
"I'm not."  
  
"And they have the SS and all that?"  
  
Robert frowned. "Yeah. And they're the nastiest of the whole rotten bunch."  
  
"Indeed," Meridina concurred. "They are quite unpleasant."  
  
For several moments Jack was silent. "Okay, the Multiverse is _really_ weird," he finally said.  
  
Robert chuckled. "And I didn't even tell you about S0T5 yet."  
  
"And what about them?"  
  
"Oh… Zigonians. A reptilian humanoid race." Robert smirked. "And they're devout Catholics. In their own way, at least."  
  
Jack blinked. "You're not joking, are you?"  
  
"I'm not."  
  
Jack looked over to Daniel. " _Weeeeird_ ," he intoned.  
  
"Well." Daniel shrugged. "I suppose there's no reason why a reptilian species _can't_ be…"  
  
Daniel stopped as they entered the gate room. Sam and Hammond were waiting already, in their USAF dress blues just as Jack was. Guards in camo, but unarmed, were to either side of the room, standing still with hands behind their backs.  
  
Ahead of them the Stargate was already lit up.  
  
One by one the lights on the Stargate finished coming on. By the time it activated the room had filled with a subtle tension. Expectation, disgust, irritation, worry, everything you would expect for this occasion.  
  
" _Chevron 7 is locked. Off-world activation_ ," said a woman. Presumably sitting in the control room behind and above them.  
  
Once the portal stabilized, there was nothing for several seconds, increasing the nervousness and uncertainty in the room.  
  
And then the Goa'uld started to emerge.  
  
The first was in a suit of silver with a fur cloak slung over his left shoulder. His light eyes were full of self-assurance far beyond arrogance. Long hair of light brownish color went down to his shoulders.  
  
The second was a woman, of light brown complexion, with deep, dark eyes and a proud forbearance. Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun that was obscured under a silver headscarf that flowed loosely down to her shoulders. She had a red jewel set into her forehead and further glittering stones on her silver garments - a sari and billowing pants - and at the edge of her hairline where the headscarf was in place. A prominent jewel was just under her neck, at the center of the gems that made her sari glitter.  
  
The last figure was in robes of Oriental finery, primarily crimson in color with a light gold collar trimmed with white. Brown eyes took in the environment of the gate room. His dark hair was obscured by the black hat that covered his head, a round cap that made Robert think of old Chinese dress styles. He had facial hair, a mustache that joined the hair of a thin goatee down to his chin, where a long tail of a beard hung down several inches.   
  
Moreover, he recognized them from the information the Asgard granted the Alliance. Cronus, Nirrti, and Yu.  
  
They went down the walkway slowly until they were facing Robert, Jack, and the others. He could sense nothing of their hosts, simply the Goa'uld within. Disgust on their own part, a sense of grinding irritation from Nirrti at the least, and certainly haughty distaste from the others.  
  
Meridina seemed to tense up as the Goa'uld looked over her. It occurred to Robert that her talent made her even more susceptible to sensing their feelings and emotions. It was clear that she didn't enjoy what they were thinking.  
  
Daniel, appointed to deal with their needs, spoke first. "The United States and the people of Earth welcome you to the SGC," he said. Daniel's calm diplomatic tones made Robert wonder why he hadn't been picked to represent Earth. "We are honored by your attendance. This is Colonel Jonathan…"  
  
"We are aware of whom you are," Yu announced. The Goa'uld glanced at Daniel in irritation, while his peers kept their attentions on Jack and Robert. "Introductions are not necessary, nor are they desired."  
  
"We require to see our dwellings before the meeting with the Asgard," said Cronus.  
  
Daniel rolled with the discourtesy with surprising grace. "Of course. Please follow me."  
  
  
  
  
As it turned out the Goa'uld did not appreciate their lodgings. Or the security cameras in their VIP rooms. And Cronus in particular did not appreciate the presence of Teal'c, with whom he shared harsh words. It was, Robert thought, not an auspicious start.  
  
Meridina's expression betrayed some concern. Which was worrying enough, as she rarely showed such an emotion. "Perhaps General Hammond might permit me to oversee the security here?", she asked Robert quietly. "To prevent incidents."  
  
"I'll share that thought with him soon," Robert answered in a low voice. Sensing that the Goa'uld were still directing some attention his way, especially now, he stepped toward where they were giving Daniel a host of complaints. "While formal introductions are clearly not necessary," he began, "I would like to extend my thanks that you are willing to nego…"  
  
He never got the chance to finish. "You are not welcome in this galaxy, outsiders," Yu announced. "It is only by our patience that you have not been driven from your worlds."  
  
Robert and Jack exchanged looks. "Well, doesn't that sound friendly?", Jack asked. "Because that doesn't sound like negotiating as I understand…"  
  
Daniel got a concerned look in his eyes and interrupted Jack. "What Colonel O'Neill means to say is that he believes all issues of contention should be held until the official negotiations commence," Daniel said, giving Jack a look that nearly oozed the sentiment "Don't say anything else, let me handle this before you ruin everything". Jack recognized the look and held back. Not happily, it seemed, but he did.  
  
Cronus grunted noncommittally, before returning to complaints about the lodgings.  
  
Robert went over to Meridina, who was watching quietly. "Think they're just acting?", he whispered to her.  
  
"No," she answered quietly. "They are truly unhappy with their accommodations. They are used to... more luxurious surroundings."  
  
"So are most diplomats, I imagine," Robert answered. "I don't think Secretary Onaram is too pleased with his either."  
  
"That is not all, though," Meridina said. "I sense a greater sentiment within them."  
  
"Well, they're arrogant as hell, that's pretty obvious."  
  
"No, not that." Meridina looked on them with some fascination and concern. "They are actually afraid as well." Meridina looked to him. "Be wary of appearances. I am sensing something like deception."  
  
"As in they're tricking us?"  
  
"Not necessarily. It is not a general feeling. I believe one or more Goa'uld are hiding things from the others, primarily."  
  
Hearing that made Robert feel a little better about their options. If the Goa'uld were squabble amongst themselves, that might give him and the others room to maneuver between their dissensions.  
  
"Keep an eye on them," he murmured. "Nothing indiscreet. I just want to know if one gets up to anything hostile."  
  
"I will endeavor to learn as much as I can," she promised. "I additionally feel that there is something to the situation between Cronus and Teal'c."  
  
As Teal'c had already walked away, Robert said nothing. "I'm sure the SG-1 team can handle themselves," he answered quietly. "I'd better see to Secretary Onaram and see if he has any final instructions for me."  
  
  
  
  
Lucy and Doctor Opani had been assigned quarters together, a spare room with two twin-sized beds that they barely fit on. "Well, this looks like fun," Lucy mumbled. "And we're going to be trapped in here for days."  
  
Opani was busy going through her satchel. "I would have preferred a mobile biobed," she said. "Should we have any medical emergencies."  
  
"They've got an infirmary on base, right?"  
  
"They do. But their medical technology is still behind our own. And the materials I could bring can only do so much."  
  
Lucy couldn't dispute that. But she could sense that there was more to Opani's mood. "Are you okay?", she asked.  
  
Opani gave her a look. There was a sense of nervousness in her light teal eyes. "You've heard of the Jeaxians?", she asked.  
  
Lucy nodded. "They're a species from N2S7. Your closest stellar neighbors aside from the Gersallians. Didn't they get involved in your Second Unification War?"  
  
"They did," Opani confirmed. "They provided technology and weapons to the Kings of the Sindai continent to launch a surprise attack on the Dorei Federation."  
  
"To keep your people divided."  
  
"Yes." Opani's expression darkened. "So it would be easier for them to raid us for slaves."  
  
Lucy had nothing to say to that. "I know your universe has had issues with slavers too. From personal experience."  
  
"The Jeaxians were the worst. Some still are," Opani explained. "They don't simply whip or beat slaves to keep them in line, Lieutenant. They created devices. I would describe them as neural override implants. They are placed to allow a remote controller to override inputs from the brain. Anyone implanted with a neural override device has control over their body stripped away from them. They can be controlled like automatons, and the person inside… they are aware of every moment of it. They still feel every moment of pain inflicted on them, every physical agony from being overworked and underfed."  
  
The realization of what Opani was saying came to Lucy then. She couldn't stop the gasp from coming out. "You're saying…"  
  
Opani quietly reached to the back of her head. She lifted her dark purple hair up to reveal the back of her neck. At the hairline, and a little beyond, was a thin line of lightened teal flesh set against her dark teal skin. Lucy could tell it was a surgical incision scar almost right away.  
  
"I was twenty years old. Equivalent to eighteen of yours," she explained quietly. "I was pursuing pre-medical school training with an organization that provided assistance to struggling worlds. The Mi'qote Homeworld of Ys'talla."  
  
Lucy thought she'd heard of them. The Mi'qote were roughly felinoid, but with Human-esque features and skin instead of the furred bodies of Caitians from S5T3. "They're not a very advanced species," Lucy proposed. "I mean, I've never seen one, and only barely heard of them from Meridina listing the sentient species of your universe."  
  
Opani nodded. "We were working in a village along one of the borders between their internal nations. Some Mi'qote nations are more… tribalistic than the others. Their chiefs allow for raiders to plunder over borders."  
  
"They attacked the village," Lucy said. "And took you."  
  
Opani nodded. "Nobody thought an attack would happen. But the chief across the border had invited a deposed Jeaxian warlord to join his tribe. The Jeaxians provided them with weapons and technology. And I was implanted with one that night."  
  
Lucy felt compelled to put a hand on Opani's shoulder. Her power made it easier for her to sense the emotions going through the other woman. The memories she was reliving in that moment were horrifying.  
  
"I was held for nineteen days. A slave to the Jeaxian warlord. It might have been longer had not the Order of Swenya's knights arrived, along with those of the Sisters of the Silver Moon. And those nineteen days were a hell that I will never forget." Opani's eyes now shined with tears. "And now, there are three of your species in this base who suffer something like that hell, and have for _years_. And I can do nothing for them." Opani clenched her hands into fists. "I have always wanted to heal. My suffering made that desire even stronger. But for them, I can do _nothing_." Opani's lips thinned into a deep, frustrated frown. "I wish Captain Dale had chosen another."  
  
"I understand." Lucy sat down beside her on one of the beds. "I know what it's like to be hurt. Enough that I'd love to help those three hosts too. Just as I know we can't without causing another war."  
  
Neither spoke again for a time. Opani silently got back to work when she was ready, and Lucy did nothing but quietly observe.  
  
  
  
  
Daniel came to Robert when it was time. He had been busy going over the list Onaram gave him of the concessions President Morgan was willing to make to the Goa'uld, and what terms were unacceptable. But he still had little idea over how these talks would go.  
  
They picked up the Goa'uld next, with Meridina joining them as escort, and together made their way to a room that had been converted to host the negotiations. Jack's voice was coming from the other side. "...don't want them _anywhere_ ," he was saying. Once inside the door Robert could see his back had been to them. Jack had been facing Sam instead. Both were still in USAF dress blues.  
  
Flags and banners representing the present factions were along the walls. A hexagonal table had been set into the room, with a folder before each table.  
  
"Welcome, hello everyone," Jack was saying, rebounding from being walked in on. Sam gave him a quiet look before leaving. Robert could feel that she was aggravated about being around the Goa'uld too, and not just like the rest of them. "Let's all get to our seats."  
  
Wordlessly the three Goa'uld took seats. Yu, Nirrti, and Cronus, in order from right to left (at least from their perspective). That left three chairs. Robert, mindful of the diplomatic issues at stake, sat opposite from Jack, putting the last open seat between them.  
  
Jack hadn't sat yet. "Well. That's almost everyone." He was consulting his watch. "Any moment…"  
  
The sound of an Asgard transporter filled the room. Thor appeared in a chair after a prolonged burst of white light.  
  
"There." Jack kept his voice quiet and neutral in tone. "We're all here." He sat down as well.  
  
Thor nodded to them all. His small mouth began to move. "The Asgard High Council wishes you all greetings and thanks for this opportunity to negotiate for peace."  
  
Yu spoke next. "The Goa'uld System Lords are prepared to hear the Asgard proposal."  
  
Robert could feel the anger and frustration coming from Nirrti. She grumbled something in Goa'uld.  
  
Cronus' expression soured. He glared at Nirrti and growled something back at her. She responded with a hissed retort.  
  
Yu slammed a fist on the table and barked at both of them. Again he was speaking in Goa'uld, but Robert clearly made out the word "Asgard". He cursed the fact that they didn't have the Goa'uld language loaded into his translation program yet.  
  
Jack had a confused expression at the ongoing exchange. "I thought we were all gonna speak the same language here?"  
  
Immediately the Goa'uld all glared his way. Cronus spat out something in their language and stood to his feet abruptly. Nirrti and Yu followed suit. They stomped out of the room.  
  
"What did I say?", Jack asked, utterly confused.  
  
"You insulted them," Thor replied.  
  
Jack seemed even more confused by that reply. "What? I _insulted_ them? They were already insulting each other by the way things looked!"  
  
"You spoke out of turn," Thor explained patiently.  
  
Robert sighed. "Maybe the protocols of these talks should have been made clearer. I've heard of this sort of custom before, but I've never seen it applied so quickly over a question like that."  
  
"The Goa'uld operate under very specific rules on these matters," Thor explained. "And the balance between System Lords is fragile, as is their relationship with us."  
  
The door slid open and Daniel came in. "What just happened?", he asked, gesturing toward the door.  
  
"Apparently we met, insulted each other, and broke for recess," Jack answered.  
  
Robert turned to Thor. "What is the balance of power between the Asgard and Goa'uld, anyway?"  
  
"The Asgard are the more advanced and powerful species," Daniel answered.  
  
"Which makes me wonder how you could let the Goa'uld get that powerful," Jack asked Thor.  
  
"It is a state of affairs we are not proud of," Thor admitted. "But you must understand that we do what we can with the resources left to us, which are limited. All we can manage is used to sustain the treaties with the Goa'uld. We can spare nothing more for this galaxy."  
  
"Why?", Daniel asked.  
  
Thor looked to him and Jack. "We are fighting an enemy in our home galaxy that is even worse than the Goa'uld."  
  
Robert stared in horror at the idea. "Worse than _them_?!"  
  
"Yes, Captain Dale."  
  
Jack stared at Thor for a moment. "So… you're bluffing these guys, aren't you? This is all one big bluff."  
  
Thor nodded at that.  
  
Worry was visible on both their faces. "So, say that a rogue Goa'uld like Sokar were to come after us," Daniel asked. "What would happen then?"  
  
"The System Lords would attempt to prevent it to preserve the treaty," Thor answered. "The feudal nature of their society and their divisions have always been useful. Our greatest fear is that one System Lord would rise above the others and seize complete control of their empire."  
  
"Someone like this Sokar?", Robert ventured.  
  
"Precisely." Thor got out of his chair. "I will return to my vessel now. When the negotiations are ready to proceed, you may inform me with this." He held out his hand to Jack. There was a bright glow and an item materialized in Thor's hand, a small teardrop-shaped stone with runes carved around its base.  
  
Jack took it gingerly. He looked it over. "So… how does it work?"  
  
"Simply speak into it, and I will hear you," Thor said. A moment later he transported out.  
  
That left the three of them alone. Robert was flipping through the binder in front of him, seeing the terms the Asgard were setting for Earth's protection and the proposal for the Alliance-Goa'uld non-interference and peace treaties. They were giving up their own concessions to sweeten the pot for the Goa'uld.  
  
It occurred to him that Thor and his people were playing the long-game. They were giving up great short-term gains to the System Lords while, in the long-term, Earth and the Allied Systems would have time to establish themselves more strongly.  
  
 _Assuming the Goa'uld don't see that risk too_ , he pondered. _I'm sure they'll ask for something to counter-act it_.  
  
"Well," Daniel began, "I'd better go draw up an apology to the Goa'uld. You'll need to sign it, Jack."  
  
"Of course," Jack muttered.  
  
"I'd better inform Secretary Onaram," Robert said. He stood from his chair. "Let me know when the Goa'uld are ready to resume."  
  
  
  
  
Meridina was waiting patiently in the proximity of the Goa'uld-occupied VIP quarters when Daniel and Teal'c walked in her direction. Daniel was carrying a piece of paper and looked resigned to his task of kowtowing appropriately to the Goa'uld. "Commander," he said simply before walking on.  
  
Teal'c remained with Meridina, refusing to go any closer. Meridina sensed his resentment and anger. "You have great animosity toward them. Personal animosity."  
  
Teal'c was frowning intently toward the Goa'ulds' rooms. "My father was First Prime of Cronus," he said. "Cronus murdered him for defeat in a hopeless battle."  
  
"A great injustice," Meridina murmured.  
  
"I serve the Tau'ri to fight the Goa'uld and free my people," Teal'c continued. "Now the Tau'ri face annihilation if the Goa'uld strike. Are your people not strong enough to help?"  
  
"My people are, regrettably, already in one war with a dark and terrible evil," she answered. "The Goa'uld would be too much for us."  
  
"That is to our misfortune, then," Teal'c lamented.  
  
Meridina shook her head. A quiet, serene smile came to her face. "Misfortune is never permanent. The Light will prevail. One day, the System Lords will be called to account by those with the Light."  
  
"You believe this to be true?"  
  
"Yes. I do."  
  
Teal'c appraised her quietly. "Then I look forward to the day that it comes true."  
  
Daniel emerged from the last of the VIP rooms and walked toward them. "Well, I've presented Jack's groveling apology for him," he said to them. "Now we just have to wait and see how long it will take them to reconvene."  
  
"And what it might cost you at the negotiations," Meridina said.  
  
"Yeah, I really didn't want to think about that." Daniel sighed.  
  
With how negative Daniel's thoughts and feelings were getting, Meridina changed the subject. "How are your wife, and the child?"  
  
Daniel's expression softened. "Sha're is happy. There are still a few things she's learning about Earth, but she's adapted to living here now. And Leo, our Leo, is getting bigger every day, it seems."  
  
"I see." Meridina's smile remained soft. "It is pleasing to know that things have improved for your family, Doctor Jackson."  
  
"Thank you. Well, I'd better…"  
  
There were footsteps down the hall. Yu approached them, head high. He nodded stiffly. "The Goa'uld System Lords find the apology of the Earth representative sufficient. We will be ready to return to the summit shortly."  
  
"Thank you, Lord Yu," Daniel answered. "I will go inform the other representatives."  
  
Yu barely acknowledged him before walking the other way.  
  
Daniel and Teal'c departed while Meridina resumed her vigil. She felt something, a sense of deception that made her feel wary. But for the moment, she would act as before, and quietly observe.  
  
  
  
  
Robert was called away from a quick update with President Morgan with the news the Goa'uld were returning to the table. Thor beamed down as before and Yu took the lead again, stating they had accepted Jack's apology and were ready to resume the talks.  
  
It went to business first. Thor laid out various Asgard concessions, mostly in the way of authorizing Goa'uld trade through various parts of space, confirmation of some Goa'uld gains, and similar matters.  
  
"And in exchange for these considerations, you intend that Earth be included in the Protected Planets Treaty," Cronus stated.  
  
"We do," Thor said. "The Asgard will also guarantee a treaty of non-interference and peace between the Goa'uld System Lords and the United Alliance of Systems."  
  
"The Goa'uld are prepared to agree to these terms," Yu said. "Should our terms be met."  
  
For a moment Jack almost spoke out again, but he caught himself. He raised a hand toward Thor, who nodded like the Chairman of a Committee. "What would those terms be?", Jack asked.  
  
"Your planet cannot be allowed to advance to a point where you are a threat to the System Lords, as is laid out in the Protected Planets Treaty," Yu said. "We require guarantees to this effect."  
  
Again Jack forced himself to wait until Thor recognized him. "Woh, I don't remember anything about that being said before. You're going to restrict our development?"  
  
"The Protected Planets Treaty recognizes that the purpose of the Human species is to provide the Goa'uld with hosts and slaves," Cronus said. "No Human civilization can be allowed to threaten our superior position."  
  
Robert felt a hot anger rise from within him. "Like hell," he muttered. "We're not here to be your cattle." After he spoke, he felt a wave of self-recrimination. Now he had spoken out of turn.  
  
The Goa'uld didn't seem to consider this the same way they had Jack's earlier outburst on the agreed language. In fact, it looked like they were amused by what he said, in that smug superior sense they possessed. "The Asgard have already recognized our position over your kind," Nirrti purred through that unnatural timbre. "Your opinions on the matter are irrelevant."  
  
"What is relevant is the potential threat you pose," Cronus said. "Any treaty you sign with the System Lords will include a similar recognition of our superior place in this galaxy. You will accept the same term as the Asgard have. Your Alliance will guarantee that it will never allow a Goa'uld to be stripped from their host. You will not provide assistance or support for any slave populations of the Goa'uld. And your Alliance will be forbidden from sharing any further technology with Earth."  
  
Robert glowered at that. "And what's to protect any of our citizens from being taken to be made into slaves or hosts?"  
  
"The Goa'uld System Lords will not encroach upon any existing colony of the Allied Systems and will recognize future colonies settled within a short range of those worlds," Yu stated. "And we will recognize that Ra's former holding of Abydos is now under the jurisdiction of the Allied Systems. None of your people will be subject to seizure as slaves or hosts so long as they are in the recognized zone of Alliance space."  
  
"But if they exit your territory, they are forfeit to our desires," Cronus added.  
  
Robert's glower nearly became a snarl. This was what the Alliance had expected, of course, but to hear it in those terms, to know that any exploration teams or free colonies outside of the recognized sphere of Alliance space would be fair game for Goa'uld attack, that was almost too much.  
  
As for the ban on giving technology away… that was also expected. Although it said nothing about Earth itself…  
  
"And that's it?", Jack asked. "Those are your extra terms?"  
  
"There are two more," Cronus revealed.  
  
"And they are?", Robert asked.  
  
"The Tau'ri will give up their Stargate to the Goa'uld System Lords," Yu said. Jack had only a brief moment to consider the loophole in that before Yu clarified, " _Both_ of them."  
  
Jack frowned deeply at that.  
  
"And the Alliance will make a further guarantee," Yu continued, looking to Robert. "The vessel known as the _Aurora_ will be banned from our home universe."  
  
Robert stared. "What?"  
  
"The Alliance will be forbidden from bringing into this universe any vessel bearing Asgard technology," Yu clarified. "Including your ship."  
  
Robert blinked. He brought up a hand. "Asgard technology? We don't have any Asgard technology…"  
  
"You are either a liar or an incompetent," Cronus answered. "We are already aware that your vessel is armed with Asgard weaponry."  
  
"What do you mean, Asgard weaponry? All we have are..." Robert stopped and glanced to Thor, who remained patiently still. He was putting two and two together.  
  
"We have all seen Heru'ur's information about your ship," said Yu. "Your ship's main weapons are based on Asgard technology. And we will not permit such technology to be used in our galaxy by any but the Asgard themselves."  
  
Robert blinked again. He could see Jack's bewildered expression. "The pulse plasma cannons," Robert murmured. He looked to Thor. "They're what the Darglan got from you?"  
  
Thor nodded. "We provided them with the necessary information to construct their own variants of our defensive systems. Your transporter systems also operate under principles derived from our own."  
  
Robert thought on that a moment. "But… the Darglan were peaceful explorers, and they had… why would they need such an increase in firepower?"  
  
"You may discuss this at another time," Cronus insisted. "Those are our terms. We will await your consultation with your leaders."  
  
"If your leaders are wise, they will accept them," Yu added.  
  
The Goa'uld all stood and went for the door.  
  
Robert barely noticed them go. He was still looking at Thor, his head full of questions.  
  
Thor noticed it as well. "I must consult with the High Council," Thor said. "Please inform me when your governments have made a decision." He vanished in a flash of light.  
  
Robert rubbed at his forehead. Jack was already standing. His expression was a dark and sour one, and for an understandable reason. The Goa'uld had just effectively asked Earth to throw away any means of finding a way to defend itself from them. Their only shield would be a treaty that, given what Jack and Robert now knew, was working purely on a bluff by the Asgard. If they gave their Stargate up and things went bad, Earth was doomed.  
  
The Alliance was, at least, in a better position. But the Goa'uld terms meant that any of the new ship designs employing Darglan - or rather, _Asgard_ \- plasma weaponry would be barred from service in R4A1. The Goa'uld, if they discovered how distracted the Asgard were, could be assured of facing older Alliance vessels in their initial assault, not the newer and more powerful ones being designed and built.  
  
"Well, I guess that's that," he murmured, looking at Jack. "We might as well report this to our bosses."  
  
"Oh, I can't wait," Jack replied in a dull tone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert attends a peace summit at Stargate Command with the Goa'uld System Lords.

Secretary Onaram considered the Goa'uld terms carefully. "We would undermine our defenses over time," he noted. "If this plasma weaponry is Asgard-based and not permitted in this galaxy."  
  
"That's just what I thought," Robert said in reply. "And we're barred from helping Earth out, so they'll be on their own if the Goa'uld abrogate the treaty."  
  
"What are the chances of that? That is the consideration we face."  
  
"Well, the treaty's held for centuries. Millennia, it seems." Robert shrugged. "It's a big galaxy and the Goa'uld already own much of it. Maybe they'll be content to continue fighting each other and respect our borders." Robert lowered himself into the seat across the table from Onaram. The SGC had kindly converted a back-up storeroom into a conference room for the Alliance team, with the technology the Alliance had brought through allowing for communication with Portland. Currently that channel was closed, but Onaram would be using it soon to report to President Morgan the Goa'uld terms.  
  
"That would certainly be a preferable outcome." Onaram put his hands together on the table. "Just for sake of argument, Captain, would you accept this agreement?"  
  
Robert wanted to say no. That they were giving too much to the Goa'uld. But he knew the alternative was worse. They didn't have the means to fight off the Goa'uld right now. Not with the war with the Nazi Reich still on. "Well. I can't see anything they've said that goes against the President's basic requirements," Robert admitted. "They've agreed to recognize our colonies and the zone of space we've claimed, and so long as our citizens remain in our territory they're considered hands-off."  
  
"But any Alliance citizen who leaves our space becomes a target?"  
  
Robert nodded. "Potentially. I guess it would come down to whether the Goa'uld in question wanted to be hostile or not. They're more feudal than the Inner Sphere. But if they take any of our people found outside our space, we can't do anything about it. Short of ransoming them back, I guess. And if they're taken to be hosts, there's nothing we can do."  
  
Onaram silently pondered this. "The Goa'uld are disgusting, are they not?", he finally asked.  
  
"Completely," Robert agreed.  
  
"But that does not matter. Our mission is not to like them, it is to forestall chance of an invasion with a peace treaty. And the Goa'uld terms, while onerous, are not in contradiction to President Morgan's instructions." Onaram his hands together on the table, aligned so that the fingers on each hand were gripping the side of the other. "Deity forgive us for treating with such monsters. But we have accomplished what we came to do. I will seek final approval from President Morgan, but for the moment, we are accepting the Goa'uld offer."  
  
As much as Robert wanted to hate the very idea of the deal, he couldn't help but nod in agreement. "I think that's our best choice for now."  
  
"As for Earth." The elder Dorei's expression was somber. "Do you think they will accept the Goa'uld terms?"  
  
Robert sighed and nodded. "I think they'd be crazy not to. We can't protect them or help, the Asgard won't if they refuse the Goa'uld terms, and if they say no the Goa'uld will throw ships at them until Earth is crushed."  
  
"Agreed. Hopefully they will see the wisdom in this."  
  
"I would ask permission to seek one exception from the Goa'uld, Mister Secretary," Robert said. "Civilian technology. I want to see if the Goa'uld will let us continue to provide Earth, quietly, with superior technology to improve life on Earth. Medical technology and means, ecological repair methods, agricultural bonuses, that sort of thing."  
  
"If you can get the Goa'uld to agree without a major concession, I will defend such a term with the President," Onaram pledged. "Please, inform Secretary Simms and General Hammond of our decision, and give them my recommendation that they accept. And tell them this: should they accept and give up their Stargates, and should the Goa'uld betray the treaty, the Alliance will do whatever is in our power to assist the people of Earth in the resulting struggle."  
  
"I'll pass it on." Robert stood and left the room, pondering that promise. It was not hollow, but it would not be comforting to an Earth bombarded into submission and invaded by the Goa'uld, with the survivors enslaved. It would be years, probably, before the Goa'uld could be confronted by the Alliance.  
  
But it was all they could do.  
  
  
  
Meridina was surprised to see Teal'c enter the hall where the Goa'uld were being kept. She looked to him with some bewilderment. "Teal'c," she said.  
  
"Commander Meridina," he replied, nodding his head respectfully.'  
  
"Why have you come?", she asked.  
  
"I was called by Cronus," Teal'c said. He handed a scrap of paper with Goa'uld writing on it. Meridina looked it over and handed it back. She couldn't read the writing save to recognize the characters for Cronus' name, but she could sense no deception from the Jaffa.  
  
"Allow me to stand by the room, then," Meridina said. "For security purposes."  
  
"That is most wise," Teal'c agreed.  
  
Meridina walked with Teal'c to the room in question. She knocked upon the door and opened it.  
  
Cronus looked up. He saw her, and then he saw Teal'c and snarled. " _Shol'va_ ," he spat. "Why have you returned to my presence? Is this the extent of the Alliance's supposed security?"  
  
"It was you who summoned me," Teal'c stated. He showed his invitation to Cronus.  
  
Cronus snatched the paper and looked it over. Confusion now crossed his haughty face. He growled in Goa'uld.  
  
Meridina sensed something was wrong, dreadfully wrong. Her hand went to her _lakesh_ and she stood ready to act to protect both.  
  
The chaos began a moment later.  
  
  
  
  
Robert found Jack in the SGC wardroom above the control room, complete with a glass window into the Gate Room. "Colonel," he said politely.  
  
Jack turned only after a moment. His expression was torn and bitter. "Captain," he said. "So, how's your side doing? You going to sell out to the Goa'uld too?"  
  
Robert couldn't keep the frown off his face from distaste. "Secretary Onaram thinks we're getting about as good as we can hope for. He has allowed me to ask the Goa'uld to make an exception for some civilian technology. Help your planet along with medical technology, the means to repair ecological damage, that sort of thing."  
  
Jack nodded slowly. "I guess that's all you can really hope to do in your situation, is it?"  
  
"Pretty much," Robert admitted. "Onaram did want me to extend a promise, that we'll do whatever we can for Earth's people if the Goa'uld end up betraying the treaty. That we'll help whoever we can."  
  
"Mighty nice of you." Jack's tone was bitter and sarcastic. After a moment he winced. "I'm sorry, you don't deserve that. I just hate this entire situation." He crossed his arms. "We're up against the corner and the Goa'uld know that, so they're taking everything they can get out of us. And I can't think of a single way to stop them."  
  
"I can't either." Robert put his hands on the back of the nearest chair and leaned against it slightly. "The timing for us is terrible."  
  
"Well, at least you're fighting actual Nazis," Jack pointed out. He looked out again at the Stargate. "Hell, maybe I should just join your side of things. The SGC's going to be disbanded if this goes through."  
  
"We'd be glad to have all of you," Robert said. "If you really want that."  
  
"I suppose we'll see what happens," Jack replied. "I just think we're going to regret this. Trusting the Goa'uld to not be Goa'uld with us when…"  
  
Jack was interrupted by an alarm and a number of red lights starting to go off. "What…" He started.  
  
Robert's multidevice chimed. He reached to it and pressed the commkey. "Dale here."  
  
" _You need to get to the Goa'uld VIP rooms, now,_ " Lucy said on the other end.  
  
"Why?" Robert could see Jack's attention focus on him with laser-like intensity. "What's going on?"  
  
" _It's all…. it looks like Teal'c attacked Cronus, Captain._ "  
  
Both men went right for the door.  
  
  
  
  
By the time the two men arrived, soldiers and medics had come as well. Yu was shouting in enraged Goa'uld. He glared at them as they came. "Is this your idea of security, Captain?!", he raged. "And you. Your people will suffer for this!"  
  
"Before you go off threatening us, can we find out what happened first?", Jack asked.  
  
Yu's eyes glowed white, and his face remained locked in restrained fury.  
  
Robert could already feel Lucy inside with Meridina. He moved by Yu and entered the room. Opani and Doctor Fraiser were busy getting an unconscious Cronus into aa stretcher. Another pair of medics were tending to a wounded Teal'c, covered in blows and cuts. Meridina was seated against a wall, a cut and bruise on her forehead. Lucy was kneeling beside her. She looked up at Robert. "I found them like this," Lucy said.  
  
"Did you see anything? Feel anything?"  
  
"Just…" Lucy shook her head. "Deception, I think. Anger. Surprise. I can't tell if Meridina walked in on them or what."  
  
"So Teal'c might have attacked Cronus?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe?" Lucy shook her head. "Meridina probably knows."  
  
The Gersallian woman stirred. Her eyes looked distant when she opened them. "What… what has…"  
  
"I was hoping you could tell us," Robert said.  
  
Daniel was in the room now and standing with them. "Did you see anything?", he asked. "Any indication of who attacked Cronus and Teal'c."  
  
"I am afraid my memory is not clear," Meridina answered. She rubbed at her forehead. "The blow to my head was quite unexpected. I am afraid I was distracted too greatly by the fighting."  
  
Robert's stomach twisted. "Who was fighting?"  
  
"Cronus and Teal'c," she said. "Maddened with anger and rage. I could not tell who started the fight."  
  
"Why was Teal'c even down here?", Jack asked. "He knew to stay away."  
  
"A message was invoked on his part. I trusted his judgement to be appropriate and allowed him to pass."  
  
"Well, that's not going to look good," Daniel sighed.  
  
"Here, let me give you a medical scan," Lucy offered. "And then we can get you to the infirmary."  
  
Meridina shook her head. "That is not necessary."  
  
"I don't know, this head wound looks…"  
  
"I _said_ that it is _not necessary_ ," Meridina insisted. Her voice became heated in a way Robert had never heard before, and she almost glared daggers at Lucy.  
  
Lucy was taken aback. "Okay, okay," she said. "I'm just… I wanted to make sure you're okay."  
  
Meridina's face relaxed. "I… I apologize," she said. "I am merely aggravated at myself for not escorting Teal'c as I should have. Everything may be ruined now from his surrender to his darkness."  
  
"We'll find out what happened," Robert assured Meridina. Her outburst worried him. She had clearly felt ashamed of what looked to be broken trust… but Meridina was usually far calmer than that.  
  
Then again, she'd spent all day near the Goa'uld, feeling their nastiest and most vile thoughts being "transmitted", for lack of a better word, for everyone with her level of telepathy to feel. Robert suspected he'd be tetchy as well. "Why don't you go rest?", he advised. "I'll let you know if anything else happens."  
  
"Of course." She stood and began to walk away.  
  
"Well, so much for the peace summit," Daniel sighed.  
  
Robert nodded. He swallowed. "I'd better go report this to Secretary Onaram. See if he has any idea how we can deal with this."  
  
"We're going to see what's happening in the infirmary," Jack said. "Maybe if we're lucky we can talk our way out of this."  
  
There was something in his tone, and in Daniel's look, that told Robert how both were actually feeling about their chances, and it was certainly how he felt about it.  
  
 _When are we ever that lucky?_  
  
  
  
  
Onaram heard Robert's quick report with quiet contemplation. Robert could still sense something of the feelings within the older Dorei, though - frustration, concern, a sense of everything having fallen out of control. "What is the Goa'uld response?", he finally asked.  
  
"Bad," Robert replied. "Yu vowed the people of Earth would suffer."  
  
The Dorei statesman's right ear twitched slightly. "He specified Earth only? He is not blaming us?"  
  
"Not of the attack. He accused us of incompetence, that was it." Robert could sense the calculation going on and didn't need to be a mind-reader to see where this was going. "Sir, you're not about to suggest…?"  
  
"We must consider the needs and interests of the Alliance as a whole, Captain," Onaram said. His voice was plainly weary. "All we can do is encourage the Goa'uld to show mercy. Perhaps if this Teal'c were to stand trial for the attack…"  
  
"I doubt the Goa'uld care for a trial," Robert answered. "With a system like theirs, all they'll want to do is execute Teal'c on the spot. And they might still want more."  
  
"All we can do is see if further concessions we can accept, and Teal'c's extradition, can mollify them. If it can't…" Onaram shook his head. "Then we must leave Earth to its fate."  
  
Robert couldn't keep the angry look off his face. "You're talking about leaving five to six billion people to be slaughtered or enslaved, Mister Secretary. How can we let something like that happen?"  
  
Even as he asked that, in the heat of the moment, he could guess the basic point of the weary reaction Onaram had to that. "Because there are billions more in Universe S4W8 who suffer the same at the hands of the Nazi Reich."  
  
Robert's jaw clenched.  
  
"I must inform President Morgan, Captain," Onaram sighed. "Please let me know of any further updates to the situation."  
  
Robert nodded and left.  
  
  
  
  
The critical care room in the SG-1 infirmary was rather dark from all the dimmed lights. Doctor Fraiser was in charge, with Opani providing what help she could. Lucy could feel Opani's disturbed feelings. She was helping to save the parasite and the helpless host that it kept imprisoned in his own mind.  
  
 _And helping to save the peace_ , she thought.  
  
Yu and Nirrti were present, and both were even nastier in disposition than before. "Your primitive technology can do nothing for him," Nirrti asserted. "We must get him to a sarcophagus."  
  
Which, of course, meant never getting Cronus' testimony on what happened. It meant not finding out what was going on, and Earth being at the mercy of the Goa'uld.  
  
"If I could get a medical module from the _Aurora_ , I could treat him," Opani said.  
  
"You mean you could have a chance to tear Cronus from his host," Nirrti spat. "Just as you did to Amaunet."  
  
Opani bit into her lip. "I would save him. That would be my duty."  
  
"There might be something," Sam suggested, stepping into the room. She carried with her a box. Opened, it revealed a hand-held device of some sort, a golden hand brace and frame around a red emitter of some sort. She held it out. "See if this works."  
  
Nirrti considered the item. After a moment she picked it up and held it down to Cronus. Energy flowed from the emitter and into his body. Nothing came of it, however, and after several seconds Nirrti took off the device and put it down. "His wounds are too severe."  
  
Lucy felt an itch inside of herself at that. A sense of deceit. But she knew that accusing Nirrti of lying here might only cause a greater fight later. _Maybe I can get Yu to use it later?_  
  
"There is nothing more we can do here," Yu stated. "We will prepare to depart now."  
  
"Wait," Lucy said. "There might be one more thing we can try." When they all looked at her, she triggered her multidevice. "Lucero to Meridina." When she saw the call was received, she asked, "Can you come to the infirmary? I think we need your help."  
  
Several minutes passed before Meridina entered. She looked around the room quietly before nodding to Lucy. "You needed something?"  
  
Lucy gestured to Cronus. "Nothing we've done to heal him has worked so far," she said. "I was hoping maybe your force healing abilities would help."  
  
Meridina shook her head. "Likely not. I am not a fully-trained healer, Lucy. There is only so much I can do. His condition is grave."  
  
"It's still something," she insisted. "Maybe if you manage just a little the Goa'uld healing device can work?"  
  
Meridina thought on it for a moment before nodding. "I will endeavor to save him." She walked up beside the bed and set her hands on Cronus' stomach and chest. Lucy felt Meridina's power begin to brighten, to pick up in intensity as she applied her will to Cronus' body. It felt weaker than prior times she had used it, although Lucy knew that proximity to life sources could enhance her ability to heal as it had on the Citadel.  
  
After a minute nothing had changed. Meridina slumped over slightly and put her hands to the bed, using it to hold herself up as she regained her bearings. "I am sorry," she said. "I can do nothing."  
  
In their corner of the room, Jack and Daniel frowned. Sam was upset as well - it was clear they felt this was their last hope of saving Cronus and finding out what happened to him.  
  
"You tried," Lucy said, distraught. Sam looked even more disturbed, but given her world was the one under threat that was understandable.  
  
"I must go rest," Meridina said.  
  
"And we must prepare to depart," Yu announced. He nodded to Nirrti, who joined him in leaving. Meridina was not far behind.  
  
Lucy watched her go. She felt off about something. The attack, primarily, and what she thought she could feel within Meridina. A trace of… fear? Despair? It was a distraught feeling she never felt in Meridina usually. _Then again, we're usually not facing the killing and enslaving of an entire planet like this._  
  
"There has to be some way to save him," Opani insisted. "Give me, give us, time, please," she said to Jack.  
  
Jack shrugged. "I'll go see what General Hammond and Secretary Simms want to do. Let me know if anything else happens, alright? And I mean let me know _immediately_."  
  
"Of course," Fraiser said.  
  
  
  
  
One of the SGC personnel, Corporal Burleigh, was surprised to see Meridina enter his workspace. The young man did personnel work, mostly, helping officers and higher-ranking NCOs go over personnel files for promotion reviews or disciplinary proceedings. It was fairly unglamorous as things went considering the work of the SGC, but Burleigh was hopeful he would get a higher responsibility eventually.  
  
For the moment, however, he was simply confused at why the Alliance officer - who looked human despite everyone saying she was alien - had come to him. "Can I help you, ma'am?", he ventured nervously.  
  
Meridina looked at him with little emotion. "I need to investigate something. I require access to your personnel files."  
  
"I'll need a written order from General Hammond for that, ma'am," he said.  
  
A soft, friendly smile crossed her expression. "Of course." She held out a piece of paper. Burleigh took it and it looked like everything was in order. "Okay, this computer will get you the information you need, ma'am."  
  
"My thanks," she said.  
  
  
  
  
The unease and desperation in the SGC were getting to Robert. There seemed to be nowhere he could go to escape it and the constant reminder of what was at stake. Even here, in the quarters they assigned, he could feel it.  
  
He hung up his uniform jacket in the small metal wardrobe of the room and laid on the stiff bed. There were cheap motels with softer mattresses, he decided. It certainly didn't make resting any easier.  
  
He wished he had someone to talk to. Beth, Julie, Zack… the people he trusted. But only Meridina was here, and she was resting from the attack.  
  
There was a knock on the door. Robert called out, "It's open" and sat up.  
  
Lucy entered. "Hey."  
  
"Hey." He gestured toward one of the two chairs in the room, which Lucy went for. She had shed her uniform jacket and left it in her room, leaving the light gray undershirt on. "No change?"  
  
"They hope Teal'c will awaken soon, but nothing else has happened," Lucy said. "The Goa'uld couldn't heal Cronus. Neither could Meridina." He nodded and sighed. "Is there anything we can do?"  
  
"Nothing," Robert said. "I've already followed Secretary Onaram's instructions on this. Told Yu that the Allied Systems was 'appalled at what transpired' and we 'were still ready to sign the treaty'."  
  
"You mean we're going to abandon Earth to the Goa'uld."  
  
Robert's frown deepened. "That's what's been decided in Portland. That right now we have no hope of saving Earth, and won't for the near or mid-future."  
  
Lucy shook her head in frustration. "This entire thing feels wrong. Doesn't it to you?"  
  
"Abandoning these people? Yes, yes it does."  
  
"Not just that," Lucy said. "Just the situation in general. The idea that Teal'c would put Earth in danger for petty revenge."  
  
"I know. But the guy killed his father and exiled Teal'c and his mother. I can't blame him for being bitter. And maybe it got the better of him." Robert put a hand to his forehead. "It's times like this that I wish I didn't have this power. What's happening right now is bad enough, feeling the desperation and worry here is making it worse."  
  
"I know what you mean. I even think it's getting to Meridina a little. She seems to be a little off now, disturbed I mean."  
  
"The fact even she can be disturbed is frightening," Robert muttered. "Even the fight in the Facility didn't make her lose confidence."  
  
Lucy shook her head. "I just… for a moment, I felt something like despair from her. Like she was completely helpless. It just doesn't make sense."  
  
"It does to me. We _are_ helpless. Helpless to help these people, our fellow…"  
  
There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Robert called out.  
  
Daniel stepped in. "Hey," he said.  
  
"Doctor Jackson." Robert nodded. "What can I do for you?"  
  
Given the look on his face, there were a lot of things Daniel was thinking of. "Take Sha're and her baby to safety, for starters," he said. "Not that you'll be able to. General Hammond just locked down the Stargate. Nobody's being allowed to leave while we investigate this."  
  
Lucy frowned. "The Goa'uld won't stand for it."  
  
"Well, we're going to get invaded and enslaved anyway, so I suppose there's nothing to lose now," Daniel answered. The flippancy in the remark could not hide his fear. "Anyway, General Hammond reopened the base and brought armed soldiers in. They're supposed to keep an eye on the Goa'uld, but there's always the chance you might get challenged if you're in the wrong area. I just thought you should know."  
  
"Secretary Onaram will probably insist I protest this," Robert said. "I understand why, of course."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Where's Colonel O'Neill?", Lucy asked.  
  
"Oh, he's trying to get some help from Thor. I told him it's not likely, of course." Daniel nodded. "Come find me if you need anything." He left the room.  
  
  
  
Nirrti returned to the VIP room she was assigned to. As always, it was pitiful and small, with almost no proper luxuries. This was no way for a Goa'uld of her stature to be treated. The entire situation made her burn with fury that her prior plan to destroy the Earthers and their Stargate had failed.  
  
But there was always more plans. She pondered if she should try to take out Yu as well. It was tempting. But given the chaos it would lead to in the hierarchy, it seemed to be an unwise risk to her plans. She would stay her blade for the moment.  
  
There was a knock on the door. Nirrti turned as it opened. "What is the meaning of this?", she asked as Meridina stepped in.  
  
Meridina stepped away from the door for a moment. She focused and then, with a gentle movement of her hand, shut the door. She looked to Nirrti. A small smile crossed her face, as it did Nirrti's.  
  
And then her eyes flashed white.  
  
"Everything is proceeding according to plan," said Meridina, in the deep timbre of a Goa'uld. "As I pledged it would."  
  
"So it seems." Nirrti's eyes narrowed. "Are you in full control of your new host?"  
  
"Her mind and power is great, but once I was inside, it has been meaningless against me," the Goa'uld replied. "For all of her power, this woman is as vulnerable to us as any other being."  
  
"As it should be." Nirrti stepped toward her. "The Tau'ri will not let us leave. We are prisoners until they finish their investigation. You must act before they give up."  
  
"I already know where I am going," replied the Goa'uld. "The powers this body can wield are more than sufficient to the task of accomplishing our goal."  
  
"And you will take the child?"  
  
The Goa'uld nodded. "The _harcesis_ will be ours."  
  
Nirrti answered with an anticipatory smile. "Excellent. And the mother…?"  
  
Meridina's face curled into its own sinister smirk. "I will deal with my former host as I please," declared Amaunet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert attends a peace summit at Stargate Command with the Goa'uld System Lords.

In the infirmary, Opani was looking over the unconscious Teal'c and running another medical scan to make sure his brain wasn't damaged.  
  
"I'm not sure that will do any good," Doctor Fraiser said to her. "His condition hasn't changed that much in the last ten minutes."  
  
"I know." Opani put her medical scanner back into its place on her wrist-mounted multidevice. "But it is something. Your people are facing a terrible threat and Teal'c may hold the key to helping you. And I would rather be active than passively sit aside while other beings are enslaved." Opani's fists clenched. "My people knew slavery once before. We stand against it now."  
  
"We just have to hope the others find a way," Fraiser said. "Sometimes it's all you can do around here. Hope."  
  
Opani answered her with a nod. Hope, indeed, was something she was familiar with, and it had fulfilled its promise to her.  
  
She went back to work checking on Teal'c's vitals.  
  
  
  
  
Amaunet walked silently through the once-sealed blast doors without immediate resistance. A primitive transport lift brought her up to ground level, where she faced a checkpoint for the first time. Armed Tau'ri did not challenge her with raised weapons but did call out to her on why she had come up. "I am on an urgent assignment," she said to them, mimicking her host's tone accurately. She felt her host resist. It was troublesome, but ultimately futile. In time the host, this Meridina, would submit as all hosts did. As all hosts should.  
  
"Do you have a pass from General Hammond, ma'am? Otherwise I have to ask you to go back down and see him," one insisted.  
  
A surge of impatience made Amaunet think of the ways she could kill this little meek Tau'ri. But she was not going to risk her purpose on a fight. Instead she would put her host's raw powers to use. She raised a blank piece of their paper. As the guard took it she gathered her will and impose her mind, or rather Meridina's under her control, to give the illusion of a signed order from General Hammond. She did not think of the order itself, but rather used the powers given to her now to make the soldiers think they saw what they expected. "Good day, ma'am," the lead guard said, opening the checkpoint for her and handing her back the empty sheet.  
  
With great satisfaction, Amaunet walked on, making her way toward the exit.  
  
  
  
  
Lucy stepped into one of the labs in the SGC, where she found Samantha Carter looking over the Goa'uld healing device. Sam turned her head towarad Lucy. "Lieutenant?", she asked.  
  
"Sorry, ma'am, I'm just looking for Meridina," Lucy answered. She took another step in and looked around. "So this is where you work when you're not off-world?"  
  
"Usually," Sam said. "Sometimes we pick up technology that needs to be examined and catalogued."  
  
Lucy looked over one item in the lab, a squat box-like thing. "You're trying to build a working naqia reactor?"  
  
"Naqia? You mean naquadah?"  
  
"That's what you call it." Lucy nodded. She looked over the prototype unit. "You might want to add another capacitor, with the amount of material you might blow out the ones you've put in."  
  
Sam looked to her again. A smile faintly crossed her face. "Thanks. But isn't that a violation of the treaty?"  
  
"What the Goa'uld don't know can't hurt them," Lucy remarked. "Much. Besides, I didn't build you a reactor, I made a suggestion."  
  
"Still…" Samantha walked up beside her and looked over the prototype unit. "So your people use naquadah power generation?"  
  
"We do," Lucy confirmed. "The _Aurora_ is powered by several banks of reactors. It allows for more stable and less volatile power generation than matter/anti-matter reactors."  
  
"Anti-matter? Wouldn't that be extremely dangerous?", Samantha asked. "I mean, just one containment failure and…"  
  
"...and your ship goes out in a big boom, yeah." Lucy nodded. "It's why the races and nations we've met who do use that power source are starting to change over to naqia reactors."  
  
Sam nodded. After a moment she asked, "You didn't come to talk about this, did you?"  
  
"I was hoping Meridina was here," Lucy said. "She's not in her quarters, so I imagined she might be moving around, trying to help out. But I can't find her."  
  
"Hrm. Well, I could ask base security to see if she's been on camera anywhere," Sam said.  
  
"I'd appreciate that, Major. A lot," answered Lucy.  
  
Sam picked up her phone and connected to base security. Lucy couldn't make out the voice on the other end, but she could tell they were speaking with some intensity. And all she could think was that something else had gone wrong.  
  
"Thank you," Sam said. "Has General Hammond been informed?... He has?... No... No, I don't think telling one of the staff officers is good enough, I know you're busy trying to fix everything, but he needs to know _now_. Make the call."  
  
"Trouble?", Lucy asked.  
  
"Our camera systems have gone down," Samantha said.  
  
Lucy frowned. Another occurrence that made her consider there was something else going on here. "I think we need to talk to the people in charge. Together. Because there is something seriously bugging me about this entire situation and…."  
  
The door swung open. Jack stepped in and looked at them. "Hey," he said. "The infirmary just called. Teal'c's awake."  
  
There was relief plain on Samantha's face. Lucy let her take the lead in following Jack back out.  
  
  
  
  
Teal'c looked weak and tired when they got to his bed. Opani was monitoring his vitals for Doctor Fraiser, making full use of her medical-role multidevice. The other members of SG-1 joined Secretary Simms and General Hammond at the other side and foot of the bed; Robert and Lucy were with Opani on her side. "Your injuries have healed and there is no sign of brain damage, Mister Teal'c," the Dorei doctor said. "You are going to have a full life yet."  
  
"About as long as we will, anyway," Jack muttered. He frowned at Teal'c. "What happened?"  
  
"I was summoned to Cronus' room," Teal'c said. "When I arrived, he denied sending for me. Before I could inquire further, we were attacked."  
  
"Who?", Jack asked.  
  
"I could not see the attacker."  
  
Daniel asked, "You couldn't see the attacker because you were knocked out or because…?"  
  
"I did not see one at all," Teal'c stated. "And I was not made unconscious on the first blow."  
  
"A personal cloaking device," Lucy murmured. She looked to Robert. "That's what it sounds like."  
  
"Do the Goa'uld have any technology like that?", Robert asked.  
  
"Not that we've seen," Sam replied. She furrowed her brow. "I mean, I suppose it's possible a Goa'uld could have developed one. If it's meant for phase-shifting, they might have made something to fight against the Reetou."  
  
"I suspect accusing an invisible attacker won't work very well." Hammond looked to Simms. "Not unless we find proof. And we can't do that if we let the Goa'uld go."  
  
Clearly the two men had been in discussion on the point. Simms finally nodded slightly, as if in acquiescence. Hammond stepped away to make the necessary calls.  
  
"Is there anything else you can remember, Teal'c?", Jack asked.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"So we don't have anything to show the Goa'uld," Lucy sighed. "Maybe if I scan the room again.. but no, I'd need stronger sensors than I've got. I'd need the _Aurora_."  
  
"I doubt the Goa'uld would let me call her in," Robert muttered.  
  
Simms walked away by now, leaving the others alone. Opani finished injecting Teal'c with a hypospray. "That should help with the bruising," she said to him.  
  
"The pain is nothing."  
  
As this discussion continued, Robert felt bothered by something. Teal'c's explanation didn't sound wrong, but he seemed to have left out a thought, or at least something Robert felt he really should have considered. So he leaned in. "Teal'c, why didn't you ask Meridina to accompany you?"  
  
Teal'c looked at him in bewilderment. "I did."  
  
Robert and Lucy stared at him.  
  
"I do not see Commander Meridina," Teal'c continued, looking around the infirmary ward. "Was she seriously harmed?"  
  
"She's okay," Robert said, although now he was wondering about that. "Took a blow to the head."  
  
"Wait." Daniel shook his head. "Meridina said she walked in on you and Cronus fighting."  
  
Teal'c frowned at that. "She has said such?"  
  
"Yeah," Jack said. "So now you're giving us a different story. I bet the Goa'uld will just love that."  
  
"Are you sure Teal'c?", Lucy asked. "Completely sure you were with her?"  
  
"I was with her," Teal'c stated. "Do you not have her gifts? Do you sense deception from me?"  
  
Lucy swallowed. She looked to Robert in intense worry and confusion on her face. "No," she finally said. "And that's what worries me."  
  
"So she lied?", Sam said. "Meridina _lied_ to you?"  
  
"She wouldn't do that," Robert said. "Not intentionally. It doesn't make sense…"  
  
"Maybe the blow to her head muddled her memories of the attack?", Lucy suggested.  
  
"A possibility," said Opani. "I would have to examine her again."  
  
"Well, she's not in her quarters," Lucy said. "And the cameras across the base are down."  
  
The looks on everyone made it clear how suspicious that was.  
  
"Let's go find her." Robert looked to Jack and the others. "You know this place better than we do."  
  
Jack answered with a nod. "Let's find out what's going on here."  
  
"Not just Meridina," Lucy said. Seeing everyone looking her way, she continued. "I wasn't sure, but now I'm starting to think that Nirrti wasn't really trying to save Cronus. She just put in an appearance of trying."  
  
"At this point, I'm up for trying out anything," Jack said. He looked to Sam.  
  
She nodded. "I'll see if it will work for me."  
  
Robert's brow crinkled. He looked at Sam with some confusion. "I thought Goa'uld technology could only be used by Goa'uld?"  
  
"Normally, yes," Samantha said. "But when someone's been a host to one, it leaves markers for the technology to identify. The former host can use the Goa'uld technology."  
  
"Oh." Lucy's look toward Samantha was now one of disbelief and compassion. "You… you were taken as a host for one?"  
  
"I was a host to a Tok'ra for a short while," she explained. "Jolinar."  
  
"The Tok'ra being the good Goa'uld off-shoot, right?'  
  
"Something like that, yes," said Daniel.  
  
"If you're going to do this, Sam, you'd better hurry," Dr. Fraiser said. "Cronus is fading fast."  
  
"I'm going to let Secretary Onaram know about what's going on," Robert said. "And then I'll join the rest of you in looking for Meridina."  
  
Jack nodded. "Sounds like a plan."  
  
  
  
  
The primitive motor vehicles of the Tau'ri annoyed Amaunet. She accessed her host's memories for such conveyances and found them lacking, at least for how Humans used them. She had lost time in getting a firm grasp of driving while working her way off the base.  
  
But now, after some time driving, she had arrived at her destination.  
  
Finding it had been easier. Her host's mental abilities allowed her to view into the minds of the other drivers and query where to go. It led her to a series of "apartment homes". The numbering system was easily followed. She stopped the vehicle in place, shut the machine down, and stepped out of it. She approached the door, colored lightly and with the right number on it. Her host sensed the two minds within and Amaunet grinned.  
  
 _No, you mustn't!_  
  
Amaunet scowled. This host was strong-willed, enough that she still resisted. The symbiote sent a surge of pain into her host's brain to quiet her.  
  
Her host's memories of how Tau'ri interacted prompted Amaunet to knock on the door. There was the faint sound of footsteps inside of the domicile. Each one drove Amaunet's anticipation to new, unexpected heights.  
  
She had planned to enter the home before revealing herself, but her impatience got the better of her. The moment the door opened and her host appeared, she took her host's power and lashed out with it.  
  
Sha're only had time to barely recognize Meridina before invisible force sent her flying back into the home. She crashed into the table behind her, sending items flying to cause more crashing sounds to fill the air.  
  
Amaunet advanced into the house and reached out again with the power, this time to grip Sha're by the throat and hold her up. Sha're's hands went to her neck, trying to find the invisible hand that was starting to choke the life out of her. Her eyes widened with shock and terror.  
  
"Where is the child?!", demanded Amaunet. " _Where_?! Answer me, slave, or I will rip the life from you as I was ripped from you!"  
  
A cold sensation began to fill Amaunet and her host. It was frightening, and then exhilarating, a voice that told her to avenge herself upon her treacherous former host. To kill Sha're here and now, the first of many she would kill in revenge for the indignity she had suffered.  
  
 _Let her go!_  
  
Her host interfered again. This time with far more power than Amaunet had thought possible for a host to resist with. The power she was using to choke the life from Sha're cut off, causing the woman to drop to her hands and knees on the floor. Amaunet scowled and sent another jolt of pain into her host to make her behave.  
  
"Demon," Sha're gasped. "I won't let you…"  
  
"You have no choice in the matter," Amaunet retorted.  
  
She had intended to resume the killing of her former host. But she held back when she heard the crying coming from deeper within the home. She walked through the domicile, not recognizing half of what she saw, and entered a room with a large comfortable bed - fit for Goa'uld, not slaves - and a smaller bed beside it. The crying led her to the smaller bed. The _harcesis_ was there, screaming, frightened by the sounds of conflict that had awoken him from a sleep.  
  
Amaunet picked up the wailing child. A sharp mental command put the child back into a sleeping state. Amaunet looked to one side and saw what appeared to be a bag, large enough to carry the child with suffocating him. She secured the sleeping baby into the pack and walked back toward the door.  
  
A scream of rage filled the air. Sha're had gotten back to her feet. In her hand she held a sharp steak knife, with which she lunged at Amaunet.  
  
The cold power she'd felt before was still there. Amaunet gave it form, gave it function, and called upon it through her protesting host. She was delighted to see the unnatural lightning rip from her free hand and envelop her former host. Sha're screamed in agony and fell to her knees. Her cries fueled Amaunet's hatred, her need for revenge, and she wanted to run the lightning through her prior host until she was a blackened char.  
  
But she couldn't. They had already caused a commotion, and would be running out of time. She needed to get back to Nirrti with the child so they could escape the SGC.  
  
With more will than it should have taken, Amaunet cut off the attack. Sha're twisted on the ground, groaning in agony, and unable to resist as Amaunet walked on toward the door. The child was still peacefully asleep in the bag slung over her shoulder.  
  
  
  
With no sign of Meridina yet, everyone returned to the infirmary in time to see Samantha using the healing device on Cronus. Again golden light reached out from the device and bathed his wounded body with its power.  
  
"It's working," Opani said, watching Cronus' state with her medical scanner. "His vitals are stabilizing."  
  
Several tense seconds passed before Cronus' eyes opened. The Goa'uld appraised his surroundings before focusing on Samantha. "You have saved me," he rumbled.  
  
"Yeah," Samantha replied.  
  
A smirk curled on his face. "I suspect you only did so in order to spare your world."  
  
"Did you see who attacked you?", Jack asked. "It's sort of a big question around here right now."  
  
Cronus snarled at that. "I did not," he announced.  
  
"Well, that's swell," Jack sighed.  
  
"But it wasn't Teal'c, was it?", Robert asked.  
  
"The _shol'va_ may have been in league with the attacker even if he was not responsible," Cronus said. "You must prove who was behind the attack if you wish these negotiations to be completed."  
  
"That leaves one person," Robert said. "We need to find out what's going on with Meridina." He directed his attention to Cronus. "When Teal'c came in, did you see Commander Meridina? Was she with him?"  
  
Cronus considered the question. "I do not recall. She may have been just outside the door when the first blow was struck. I did not see afterward."  
  
The phone in the infirmary rang. Doctor Fraiser was the first to answer it. She turned and looked to them. "Doctor Jackson." She held up the phone. "It's for you."  
  
Daniel was the center of attention as he walked over and took the phone. "Hello?"  
  
Everyone watched his face pale.  
  
When Daniel resumed speaking it was not in English. Abydonian, Robert thought. He could feel Daniel's worry and fear and sheer anger.  
  
When the conversation ended Daniel turned to face them. "Meridina just attacked my home," he said in a grim tone. "She hurt Sha're and took our son."  
  
The idea caught Robert and Lucy entirely by surprise. "...but why would she do that?", Lucy finally asked. "She…"  
  
"I'm sorry." Daniel shook his head. "Your friend isn't herself now. She's been taken by a Goa'uld. Amaunet, actually."  
  
There was a moment of stunned, quiet silence in the infirmary. "Name of the Supreme One, no," Opani swore.  
  
"Amaunet took over Meridina?" Robert shook his head. He remembered that name, the name of the Goa'uld who had been removed from Sha're. "That… how? How could the Goa'uld sneak up on her like that?"  
  
"If she was distracted, maybe," Lucy pointed out.  
  
As she spoke, Robert thought he knew what she was meaning. "The attack on Teal'c and Cronus," he said. "If the attacker was invisible, and got in the first blow on Meridina, she wouldn't have had time to recover."  
  
"Well, finding out the 'how' is nice and all," Jack said. "But right now we've gotten nothing to help finish this case."  
  
"We should probably go," Opani said. She noted where Cronus was starting to sleep. "He'll need his rest."  
  
  
  
  
General Hammond and the two government secretaries present reacted to the news with understandable concern. "Is this not a violation of the protocols by which these negotiations are held?', Onaram asked. Robert could feel the fury radiating from him.  
  
"I'd have to ask Thor," Jack answered. "I'm sure it's got to violate something. I don't know if there's anything the Asgard can do about it, though."  
  
"We can be reasonably certain that it's a Goa'uld behind this," said Hammond. "We need to figure out which one."  
  
"And we need to get my son back," Daniel added.  
  
"Any idea where she would be taking him?", Hammond asked. "She can't think that she can get back in here."  
  
"Maybe she is," Lucy remarked. "She has an invisible conspirator, and on top of that, given what Daniel said about her attack on Sha're, Amaunet is using Meridina's powers as well as her body."  
  
"Yeah, about the powers thing." Jack gestured with his hand. "What is up with that?"  
  
Robert and Lucy looked at each other as they considered what kind of explanation to give. "Well, in the short version without any of the underlying philosophy the Gersallians have built up…", Lucy began.  
  
"...it's basically a method of mind over matter, of a connection to the wider universe," Robert continued. "And it lets you do interesting things. Lift things with your mind."  
  
"Throw bolts of invisible force."  
  
"Win gunfights with swords."  
  
That won them a bunch of quizzical looks from the native Earthers.  
  
"The point is that Amaunet might use Meridina's power to fight her way through your security, if she wants to use the Stargate." Lucy looked at Robert. "I'll go up and face her."  
  
"I'm coming too," Daniel said.  
  
"We have to assume the invisible attacker will strike again as well," Samantha said. "I can bring out the gear we used for finding the Reetou. It might help."  
  
"There's still the matter of finding out which Goa'uld is our guy. Or girl. The only way we save these negotiations is if we have a better suspect for the deed. And fighting invisible saboteurs doesn't lend itself to that.""  
  
Secretary Simms nodded. "Which we're running out of time for, Captain."  
  
Robert didn't need reminding of that. He looked at Jack. "Maybe if you got the Asgard involved again? I mean, one of them took Meridina as a host, that's got to count for something. Direct Asgard intervention…"  
  
Jack shook his head. "Not happening."  
  
"Yeah, the Asgard have that little problem of a threat bigger than the Goa'uld," Daniel noted. "They won't be able to really push their weight."  
  
"Hence the whole bluff…"  
  
The way Jack cut that line off made Robert curious. He turned his head and faced the SG-1 commander. He sensed the shift in Jack's emotions, from bewilderment and frustration to at least a measure of accomplishment.  
  
"Colonel O'Neill?" Hammond gave Jack a slight look.  
  
"Well, if it works for the Asgard," Jack began, "why not let it work for us."  
  
"You mean a bluff," Samantha said.  
  
"Yeah." Jack motioned to the door. "Carter, mind coming with me? I need you to get that gear out of the box and issued to everyone on the level."  
  
"And me?", Robert asked.  
  
"We're going back to the table," said Jack. "Time to bluff with the bad hand."  
  
  
  
  
Amaunet returned to find the base locked down. Armed men at the main gate held up rifles as she brought the motor vehicle to a stop. Amaunet stood from the car with the duffel bag carrying the _harcesis_ to one side.  
  
"Hands on your head, now!", shouted one of the soldiers. Behind them the gate slid to a close.  
  
Amaunet smirked. "I am your god," she declared to them. "Let me pass or suffer my wrath."  
  
"On the ground now! We _will_ open fire!"  
  
Amaunet lashed out with the power of her new host. Energy crackled in the air as lightning erupted from her right hand. Her foes were caught by it before they could attack.her. They screamed, they writhed, and most importantly, they went down.  
  
Amaunet reached deeper into that ever-enveloping dark power and with it she gripped the car she had been driving. A mighty heave with every bit of power she could muster flew through the car and sent it flying into - and through - the gatehouse, which came apart from the force. So did the gate.  
  
Amaunet picked the bag with her sleeping child up and started walking briskly toward the entrance to Cheyenne Mountain.  
  
  
  
  
The two Goa'uld were not happy when escorted back into the conference room. Robert sat near Jack, who welcomed them back in.  
  
"We demand to be released immediately," Nirrti said.  
  
"Of course you do. After all, one of you is responsible for the attack on Cronus." Jack gestured to Robert. "And for putting Amaunet into Captain Dale's security chief."  
  
And that was what did it. For Robert, at least, the sensations he picked up from the two Goa'uld made it clear whom the enemy was. From Yu he felt bewilderment, disbelief, and frustration. From Nirrti it was all of those as well… but with a smidgen of worry as well. A worry she was trying to suppress.  
  
He made sure to add, "The Alliance is issuing a protest with the Asgard, I can assure you. And since this is not Goa'uld territory, and this was done while we were negotiating in good faith, I want to make it clear that I will have her removed from Meridina as soon as it can be arranged."  
  
"These are severe accusations," Nirrti said. "I will have you punished for these lies and threats."  
  
"Oh, they're not lies. But you would be the one to say that, wouldn't you Nirrti?" Jack put his hands on the table. "After all, you're the only one here who has the technology to make someone invisible."  
  
Yu looked at her with surprise. Nirrti snarled. "That is a lie," she declared.  
  
"We talked with the Tok'ra," Jack said. "We know about your program to find ways to fight the Reetou."  
  
"You know nothing!", Nirrti hissed.  
  
Yu slammed his hands on the table. "You dare?!"  
  
Yu saying such might have been worrisome… if he had not been directing that at Nirrti. "You would develop such technology and not share it with the rest of the System Lords?"  
  
"You cannot believe them!", Nirrti shouted.  
  
"You opposed the treaty," Yu said. "You have long coveted Cronus' territories."  
  
"They are…"  
  
"You _dare_ defile our summit with the Asgard!", Yu continued. Clearly he believed her guilty on the weight of the accusation alone. "And to take a host from those we are in negotiation with?"  
  
Before Jack or Robert couldd intercede, the enraged Goa'uld grabbed Nirrti by the throat and began to choke her. She struggled against him for several seconds, trying to force his hands off.  
  
Then her hands went toward her waist. There was a shimmer in the air and Nirrti disappeared in a ripple of air. Yu was thrown away from her, not able to see where the blow was coming from.  
  
The SGC guard in the room readied his weapon, but he had nowhere to fire. An invisible force slammed into him and wrenched the gun from him, strap and all.  
  
Robert focused on that area and raised his hand. Pure power flowed from within, coming from an inner part of him that was always warm and gentle. It came out through his hand in a broad wave of invisible power. There was an audible pair of thumps, one from the guard who had, by necessity, been caught in the wave, the other by the invisible Nirrti.  
  
Within moments it was clear she had rolled with it, however. Robert felt the danger of what was coming surge through him. The gun Nirrti had taken briefly appeared from outside of whatever cloaking device she was using.  
  
"Crap!", Jack called out, jumping on Yu just as she opened fire. Robert dropped to the floor. "You okay?", Jack asked him.  
  
"Fine. You?"  
  
"I am unharmed," the Goa'uld answered.  
  
Jack flashed a small grin Robert's way. He knew that had been intended for him.  
  
They scrambled back to their feet. "Carter's already waiting for her," Jack said. "She'll have our gear for stopping Reetous, Nirrti isn't going anywhere."  
  
Robert nodded. He reached out with his power at the moment to sense for Nirrti. He could feel frustration, fear, and a deep tingle of anger winding through it.  
  
"She won't get far," Jack promised.  
  
Robert was about to answer when he felt something cold and dark brush against his being. It was not a familiar sensation personally, but he had listened to Lucy describe her experiences and could guess what it was; darkness. Pure darkness.  
  
"She's not our biggest problem now," Robert told Jack. "Amaunet is."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"I can feel her," Robert continued. "The way she's using Meridina's power, it's… it's _wrong_. It's dark. She's killing your people with it."  
  
Jack frowned at that. "Anything we can do about it?"  
  
"I don't know. Meridina's… well… she's powerful."  
  
"You mean that whole 'win gunfights with a sword' thing?"  
  
"Yeah." Robert nodded. "I think Lucy and I are the only ones who can take her down. If you guys can get Nirrti, we'll get Amaunet."  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Jack agreed.  
  
WIth the arrival of another guard team for Yu, they went their separate ways.  
  
  
  
  
The lift doors opened and Amaunet stepped out from amidst the bodies and unconscious forms of the SGC personnel who had been in the lift. The _harcesis_ , still in a state of sedation, remained thankfully quiet.  
  
She had intended to begin sabotaging everything she could find before linking up with Nirrti and leaving. Now she wanted to destroy everything here, to send a signal of defiance and rage to her enemies by slaughtering as many as she could before leaving.  
  
Two figures stepped out forward out of the nearby corridor. Amaunet snarled at the sight of them.  
  
Daniel was glaring harshly at Amaunet. He glanced over to see where Lucy was looking at her teacher and friend with a neutral, yet determined, expression. "You shouldn't be here," she said to Daniel. "This isn't a fight you can help with."  
  
"She's got my son. She hurt Sha're."  
  
Amaunet snickered, a sinister sound that was so unnatural to Meridina that it further clarified the horror of what was being done to her. "The child is mine. Meant for a purpose far beyond anything you could imagine." Amaunet raised Meridina's arm and looked at it. Lucy noted with horror the power crackling around her hand. When she looked at them, Meridina's blue eyes had become yellow.  
  
 _Just like mine did…_  
  
It wasn't electricity that shot from her hand, though, but force. Force that grabbed them both by the throat and lifted them in the air. Daniel began to choke at the pressure crushing his windpipe.  
  
Lucy, meanwhile, was focusing on countering with her own power. Meridina had taught her how to focus like that, how to save herself from such a grip. Through the pain and the labored breathing of her own gasping lungs, Lucy forced her focus onto the power gripping her and challenged it with her own.  
  
The gripping force faded. Lucy and Daniel dropped back to the floor, gasping for air. Daniel was barely moving; Lucy forced herself back to her feet while breathing hard. Her hand went to her waist and pulled her _lakesh_ from its clipped place on her belt. Her finger slipped over the activation key.  
  
No sooner did the memory metal blade finish forming than Amaunet's hand stretched out. Lightning erupted from it, crackling at them. Lucy put her _lakesh_ in the way, intercepting the lightning. She could feel the unnatural energies snapping at her, wanting to drain the very life from her, but she held on against them to keep Daniel safe as he recovered.  
  
"You are strong, I see," Amaunet said, giving Meridina's voice an unnatural bass distortion. "But this host is stronger. She knows all of your failures and mistakes. Even now I feel all of the times you have frustrated and disappointed her. You are no match for her power, for _my_ power."  
  
Lucy kept her weapon ready. "Whatever," she said. "You might be controlling Meridina's body, but you're not her. You don't know how to use the power right. You don't know what it can do."  
  
Amaunet snarled at her and reached for her belt. She had recovered Meridina's _lakesh_ after the base lockdown had ended. The blade flowed into existence with the snap of a switch.  
  
For several seconds neither did anything.  
  
And then, in a single moment, their blades clashed. The duel was on.  
  
  
  
  
Robert was running toward the sense of darkness he was feeling from Amaunet when he felt the attack start to come. He rolled to one side in time to avoid the bullets, which instead sent sparks flying from hitting the wall behind him. He scrambled up to all fours and crawled along, focusing to see if he could feel where the attack was coming from.  
  
Once he was generally sure of it, he turned slightly and sent a wave of energy toward that direction. He heard a distant thump. That caused him to scramble to his feet. His power molded at his will to form a shield of invisible energy in front of him.  
  
Fire came down on him again and he nearly lost his protection from the power he was being hit with. If not for Meridina's strenuous training, he likely would have had his field pop like a bubble. And then he would have been shot. Repeatedly.  
  
Just as it was becoming too much Robert slammed into something. There was a distorted cry and a thump. He gripped into nothingness until, as he expected, he felt the hot metal of an assault rifle recently fired. He wrapped his fingers around it and pulled to yank it free.  
  
An unseen fist slammed into his shoulder with enough force that Robert thought it might have been broken. He lost his grip on the weapon. A second blow hit him in the side of the head. Stars and colors exploded in his vision. There were more gunshots and, with his head spinning, he couldn't tell if it was aimed at him or not.  
  
By the time he recovered he looked up to see a large hand lower toward him. He reached for it and found he was looking into Teal'c's face as he was brought to his feet. His head still spun a little from the blow. "Thanks," he said, only now noticing Jack was with Teal'c.  
  
"You are welcome," Teal'c stated stoically. He motioned toward the next hall. "I believe the Goa'uld went this way."  
  
"Before we go further." Jack took Robert's hand. Robert felt the weight of something settle into his palm. He realized it was a pulse pistol. "From the goodies you left us last year," Jack explained. "Figured you'd like a weapon."  
  
"You figured right," Robert said. He concentrated for a moment, not just to clear his head but to get a feel for what was going on. He could feel Lucy now, carefully confident and determined, and the dark power he'd sensed before. "I believe Lucy got to Amaunet first. We need to take out Nirrti before those two link up."  
  
"Teal'c?"  
  
The Jaffa nodded to Jack. And with him in the lead, they went after Nirrti.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert attends a peace summit at Stargate Command with the Goa'uld System Lords.

Lucy's arms strained as she locked blades again with the Goa'uld controlling Meridina's body. "I know you're in there," she said hoarsely. "Fight that thing."  
  
"If you are talking to my host, you waste your time. The host of a Goa'uld no longer exists."  
  
"Your last host seemed to be existing pretty well," Lucy snarled in retort. She finished gathering her power and threw it forward in a wave of energy that knocked the Goa'uld back. She attempted to use the opening to go for the blade-bearing hand out of her hope to knock it loose.  
  
But the Goa'uld recovered more quickly than she expected. Her strike was parried. Worse, because of where it had been parried, it left her open to taking a wicked kick to her ribs. Lucy gasped and doubled over a little, taking a second kick that hurt even more before she backed off. Her arms moved without thinking, deflecting a cut aimed at her head.  
  
It was disconcerting and terrifying and enraging to see Meridina's face locked into a vicious snarl that didn't normally fit. To see the malevolent gold in her eyes and the darkness coming from her. That it was from Meridina's body, her very _swevyra_ , being enslaved by the Goa'uld parasite in her skull… that made it worse.  
  
But Lucy couldn't let those dark feelings drive her. Not without becoming the same. She parried and evaded several more strikes wordlessly. As powerful as Meridina was, Amaunet could not take full use of her power, and that kept the battle more even. Although decidedly not entirely to Lucy's advantage, unfortunately.  
  
Her real disadvantage was in the fact that she was holding back. Lucy didn't want to kill Meridina, but Amaunet was certainly out to kill her. This meant she didn't take the occasional openings she saw because the strikes in question would certainly be mortal if they hit.  
  
Amaunet seemed to realize that. "You fear killing my host," she said. "You cannot hope to defeat me by holding back."  
  
"I'm not letting you kill anyone else with Meridina," Lucy vowed.  
  
An unnatural flash of white temporarily obscured the gold burning in Meridina's eyes. "I am a god," declared the Goa'uld. "You have no say in what I can or cannot do!"  
  
Amaunet brought Meridina's _lakesh_ into a series of attacks against Lucy. Lucy struggled against them but kept deflecting them. The faint blue energy fields that surrounded their memory metal blades let out loud hissing noises with each strike, joining the metallic clang of metal to metal and the occasional spark.  
  
Seeing that Amaunet was driving her back toward a junction in the base corridors, Lucy forced herself into a series of swings and thrusts, trying to force her opponent back toward the lift. Amaunet gave ground, bit by bit…  
  
She struck suddenly. Lucy barely saw it coming, which saved her life. She drew back and watched the _lakesh_ swoop in right above her right eye. A sting of pain came from her forehead where the tip of Meridina's _lakesh_ had cut through skin and flesh. Blood started to seep down around her eye, warm and sticky.  
  
Lucy used the opening to cut at Amaunet. But again, she refrained from striking somewhere that would be fatal. Her mind flashed back, briefly, to seeing Meridina after Hawk had impaled her through the lung. She couldn't bring herself to do the same thing to her.  
  
Instead her blade went for the arm. But Amaunet, with Meridina's power, saw it coming. Or rather, Meridina's power saw it coming and acted without the Goa'uld symbiote's direct will. Their blades met again and Lucy's blow was deflected, gaining her nothing.  
  
Amaunet's blade came for her again, and she blocked it. And the next, and the next. Amaunet was starting to become more aggressive. Her hate, her rage, her sheer malice were warping Meridina's power further, calling upon darkness in a way that was innately corruptive.  
  
Half-blind from the blood streaming into her vision, Lucy knew she was losing the fight.  
  
  
  
  
Teal'c's senses and Robert's own extrasensory perceptions, as untrained as they were, enabled them to follow Nirrti through the SGC. As they went they found the knocked over, or even knocked out, guards and personnel that were left from her passage.  
  
"I thought Carter was supposed to head her off if she got out of the conference room?", Robert asked.  
  
"Yeah. But it turns out that someone, probably the snakehead in your security chief, sabotaged the TERs. The weapons we use to see things out of phase, I mean. The Major will be joining us as soon as she gets a couple fixed."  
  
Robert didn't bother nodding, as they were both following Teal'c. "This is going toward the Stargate, isn't it?", he asked.  
  
"Nirrti is trying to flee," Teal'c said. "She clearly intends to declare treachery and cause an immediate attack."  
  
"Which we have to stop. Tell me you've got security on the Stargate?"  
  
"Some, but she's invisible and a Goa'uld, they might not be enough."  
  
They made it to the Gate Control Room in time to hear the Stargate start to activate. "That's not good," Jack muttered.  
  
Robert closed his eyes and focused. He could feel the injured SGC personnel in the control room, knocked out by Nirrti, and a sense of satisfaction, of success.  
  
And then concern. A flare-up of worry. She'd seen them arrive. She knew he could…  
  
Robert didn't consciously think about what to do. As Meridina had trained him, he simply acted. His arm reached out and he felt out with his power. There was a clatter of chairs, forced out of the way by the invisible Goa'uld. Nirrti landed somewhere on the floor. "Get her now!", he cried out. "I can't hold her!"  
  
Jack and Teal'c acted. But they had spent a half-second too long in confusion at Robert's use of his abilities and Nirrti had time to break free. They had to hit the floor as bullets fired where their heads and shoulders had been a mere second before.  
  
They started to scramble back to their feet as the bullets fired again, this time shattering the glass of the control room. The palm scanner to close and open the iris was violently ripped from its place, preventing the iris from being closed. Outside the Stargate was locking its fifth chevron. It began to rotate again. "She's getting away!", Jack shouted as he finished standing.  
  
"Find her, I'll stop the Stargate!", Robert shouted. Outside the Stargate was already locking its sixth chevron.  
  
"How?!", Jack demanded.  
  
Robert had no time to explain. The Stargate had already wheeled over to the final coordinate icon, the pyramid-style triangle with a circle above it. He focused and reached out with his hand. His power took hold of the Gate's locking mechanism to hold it in place. He cried out as he did so. The pain from the strain of his action was shooting through his head. "I don't know how long I can hold it!", he shouted.  
  
Jack and Teal'c asked nothing further. They both jumped through the control room windows and rolled into the Gate Room. Bullets created sparks above them as they ran for cover. "Any ideas now, Teal'c?!" Jack pulled his gun. "Because I still don't see her!"  
  
Teal'c lifted a zat from his side. "Nor I, O'Neill."  
  
"Just great," Jack muttered. "Dammit, Sam," he mumbled under his breath. "We could really use those TREs right now."  
  
  
  
  
Daniel woke up to the sound of clashing blades. His throat still ached from the force that seemed to nearly crush his windpipe. His mind even reeled a little at the idea. It was one thing to hear about Meridina and others having such abilities, these "life force' powers, but another to experience their use first hand.  
  
A cry of pain jolted his attentions. He looked over to see Lucy favoring one leg. A deep bleeding gash had been cut into her upper left leg. She hobbled backward, meeting more strikes with her own. Daniel could see that she was losing the fight.  
  
But she was giving him an opportunity. If he sneaked up behind…  
  
_Don't!_ , a voice called out to him, faint and tired. _You will die._  
  
Daniel blinked. The voice was in his _head_.  
  
_Please… I am so weak. You must not join the battle… save your son, Doctor Jackson. Save your son. You must save…_ A short cry ended the sentence.  
  
"Meridina," he muttered. He hadn't spoken much to the Gersallian woman, but he could feel that it was her. She was still fighting Amaunet, even if Amaunet had total control of her body.  
  
And she was right. If he jumped in, he would likely die. Amaunet was using her powers to the fullest. But if he could get little Leo to safety…  
  
Daniel quietly got up to his hands and knees and then to his feet. He spied the duffel bag she had been carrying, still where he had dropped it by the lift entrance.  
  
And he ran for it.  
  
  
  
  
Lucy deflected a blow toward one of her shoulders and rolled away from a second follow-up attack. She got her _lakesh_ back up in time to stop the one Amaunet was holding before it cleaved into her neck. Amaunet glared at her through Meridina's eyes, now glowing yellow with dark corruption. "You cannot defeat me," she growled, Meridina's voice warped into the unnatural bass tone of a Goa'uld host. "I am too powerful."  
  
Lucy's face locked into a rictus of effort. She put everything into resisting the Goa'uld's blade and pushing it away from her throat. "I'm not giving up," she rasped.  
  
"I will enjoy your death, and then the deaths of your pitiful crew," said Amaunet. "There is nothing I cannot accomplish in this host."  
  
Lucy's muscled burned with effort. She was putting everything she could into stopping the blade. But it was still inching toward her neck.  
  
_Lucy._  
  
The voice almost took her focus off Amaunet. She blinked. _Meridina?_  
  
_I cannot stop her. You must stop hesitating. Strike us down!_  
  
A snarl was crossing Amaunet's face. "This host cannot resist me for much longer."  
  
_I can't kill you_ , Lucy thought. _Please._  
  
_You must, Lucy. Amaunet has corrupted my power and uses it for darkness. We must be stopped. This is your duty. Strike us down._  
  
"No," Lucy whimpered. Her eyes were filling with tears, the tears in her right eye now mingling with the blood from her wound. And now she felt the sharp edge of Meridina's _lakesh_ begin to draw blood from her neck. Amaunet was going to kill her if nothing changed.  
  
_Please. Do not let me be used to kill again. You must…_  
  
The contact cut off with a sensation of pain. Amaunet's snarl became a gloating smirk. "She is too weak to resist me again," Amaunet informed Lucy. She cut deeper into Lucy's neck, turning the wound into a deeper one. Nothing fatal or serious yet, but it would be soon. "This host now belongs to me."  
  
"No. _No._ "  
  
Righteous fury filled Lucy. Determination followed. Determination to save Meridina, to stop this monster that had enslaved her body, enslaved her power, and used it for such evil. Lucy's arms protested as she demanded more from them. She felt within herself for the power of her life energy, the _swevyra_ the Gersallians believed in, and the power beyond it. The metaphysical power, the power of the universe, the power that let her accomplish such fantastic things.  
  
Slowly, the blade moved away from Lucy's neck. Amaunet seemed surprised. Worried, then, as the blade continued to move back toward her.  
  
It didn't get far. Amaunet pushed away from her. She was breathing heavily while bringing the sword back to a ready position. "You cannot…." She stopped, suddenly, and twirled around. " _No._ "  
  
Lucy looked behind her foe. Daniel Jackson had pulled the unconscious baby out of the bag.  
  
" _YOU WILL RELEASE THE CHILD!_ ", Amaunet raged. She turned away completely from Lucy and raised her hand. Raw power began to gather, power Amaunet would direct at Daniel.  
  
_Now Lucy! You must act now!_ , the weak voice said in her head.  
  
Lucy's tears were still streaming from her eyes. In that moment, she could sense the truth. That if she did not act, Daniel Jackson would die.  
  
She could not hold back. Not without the cost of an innocent life.  
  
With a sob, Lucy plunged her _lakesh_ into Meridina's back.  
  
Amaunet might not have seen it coming. Or if she did, she was too focused on gathering the power within Meridina's body to do anything about it. The uniform fabric yielded easily to the memory metal blade A sickening sound accompanied the wound while it drove through Meridina's torso and out the front of her body.  
  
Amaunet cried out in pain and disbelief. "You… actually…." Rage flared from the Goa'uld. "You will… pay…"  
  
Lucy pulled the blade out with a sickening sucking sound. Blood flowed through both sides of the wound.  
  
She sensed what the Goa'uld would do next. Poison Meridina, intentionally, as spite for what she had done.  
  
She couldn't let that happen.  
  
Lucy knew her cut had to be just right. Too shallow and Amaunet would kill Meridina with her toxin. Too deep and Meridina would be hurt, or even die, as well.  
  
Lucy trusted in her instincts and let them guide the blade as it cut at the back of Meridina's head and neck. Bone sundered and blood flew from the resulting wound. A scream came from Meridina's throat.  
  
And she fell, silently, blood oozing from the wounds she had taken at Lucy's hands.  
  
Lucy herself dropped to a knee. The wound on her forehead was still bleeding and her pants leg was soaked in the blood from her leg wound. The cut in her neck added to the crimson now staining her uniform.  
  
Daniel was nearly running when he approached her, his son in his arm. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Get Doctor Opani," Lucy urged, looking up at him. " _Now_."  
  
He nodded and began to run.  
  
Lucy dropped the other knee. Now kneeling beside Meridina, she summoned her strength and used her power on the wounds. She could not heal, not like Meridina had once shown her was possible, but she could provide pressure to ease or stop the bleeding that threatened her life. She could sense no other life inside of her. Her cut had found its mark, cleaving Amaunet in two and killing her instantly.  
  
Now all she could do was keep Meridina alive and hope that help came.  
  
  
  
  
Deeper in the SGC, Robert felt like he was about to collapse. All of his power was going into the Stargate's mechanism, preventing it from locking the final chevron.  
  
But his need to concentrate on this kept him from aiding Teal'c and Jack. They remained in cover, trying to find where Nirrti's fire was coming from so they could return the favor. "Any ideas?", Jack asked him.  
  
"We are in a difficult situation, Colonel O'Neill. I am afraid I can think of nothing."  
  
"Well, that's swell," Jack muttered. He moved to peer around the corner of the dismantled machine gun mount he'd taken cover behind, but was forced back to the protective cover of the shield by the bullets. "She's got to run out of ammunition some time."  
  
The doors to the Gate Room opened. Sam ran in with three other soldiers as her escorts, all holding TREs. The Goa'uld-made weapons all focused toward the Stargate. Nirrti appeared out of nothing, or rather her torso did anyway. The range field of the devices' effects did not display her entire body. "Lower your weapon!", Sam ordered.  
  
Nirrti's face was grim and defiant. As she looked to each of them, and undoubtedly recognized the TREs, she knew she'd been caught. Her only hope was that the Stargate would activate and she would get a shot at jumping through.  
  
Which was about to happen. Robert simply couldn't hold it anymore. It was taxing his abilities utterly to do as much as he had done. He needed help.  
  
He got it a moment later when Sergeant Siler pulled himself back up from where Nirrti had left him unconscious. His keyboard clacked rapidly. The Stargate stopped.  
  
Robert had to put both of his palms against the table to stabilize himself. His head was spinning. "Thank you, Sergeant," he said to Siler.  
  
"Thanks sir," came the reply. "How did you keep the final chevron from locking?"  
  
"Long story," Robert breathed.  
  
Whatever rest he might have wanted, he knew he wasn't going to get it when his multi-device went off. His fingers found the key. "Dale here."  
  
" _Doctor Opani, sir. I thought you should know…. Commander Meridina is gravely wounded, and Lieutenant Lucero's been cut up. I need to get them immediate medical attention._ "  
  
"Has Doctor Fraiser gotten to you yet?", he asked.  
  
" _She is here. But, the medical technology here is insufficient to save Meridina. We need to take her back to the_ Aurora _for her to survive._ "  
  
Robert thought about that. And he smiled. "Let me get back to you on that, Opani." He used his multidevice to tap into the subspace transmitter that they had brought for Onaram to use in keeping contact with the Alliance authorities in their colonies. "This is Captain Dale. Anyone out there?", he asked in a general transmission on the main fleet channels. "I know someone had to have decided to stay close in case we needed it."  
  
After several seconds, another signal joined his in a connection. " _You know us so well, Rob_ ," said Zack. "Koenig _is here, we're ready to warp in if you say so._ "  
  
"Good. Come in ASAP. We have injured. I want your best medical staff ready to help Doctor Opani."  
  
" _We're warping in now_ ," Zack said. " _Doctor Gillam is standing ready with a medical module._ "  
  
"Good thinking, Dale out." Robert sighed and looked out at the control center, where Jack was happily securing cuffs to Nirrti. "Well, looks like we might survive this after all," he sighed.  
  
  
  
  
Yu was waiting when Robert and Jack returned. Sam followed with guards and the restrained Nirrti. Yu saw this and nodded. "I am pleased you caught the traitor."  
  
"Thank you for that, Lord Yu," Robert said.  
  
"And what of the other? The officer taken by a Goa'uld?"  
  
"Amaunet is dead," said Jack. "We're still not sure her host will survive."  
  
Yu tilted his head slightly in a half-nod. "Very well," he intoned. "And what is it that you want?"  
  
"Cronus said that if we proved who attacked him, we could keep our Stargate," Jack informed him. "I was hoping we could get your support."  
  
Yu contemplated things for a moment. Finally he nodded slightly. "And you, Captain?", he asked. "Your people have been wronged in this affair. You are owed consideration."  
  
Robert smiled thinly. "And I do have one issue, yes. About Earth."  
  
"Yes?" Yu narrowed his eyes.  
  
"For one thing, I would like to amend the limitations of sharing technology. Nothing of military value may be shared, but I want the Goa'uld to accept any decision for us to share purely civilian technologies. Our medical scanners and systems, means to counter ecological difficulties, technologies to improve the standard of life on Earth without improving its military capability. Categories that pose no threat to the System Lords."  
  
Yu nodded. "Acceptable."  
  
"Secondly…" Robert cursed his headache. This was the hard sale, and one he had barely had time to propose to Onaram. "Right now the Earthers here are keeping this all a secret. If they disclose the Stargate to their population, I ask that the treaty leave open the possibility that this Earth and its nations may join the Alliance."  
  
Yu frowned. So Robert continued. "This would mean Earth becomes subject to the Alliance-Goa'uld Peace Treaty. Nothing changes for you and Earth becomes more secure, giving it a reason to sustain the peace treaty. You would lose nothing. Earth would gain security and a stronger incentive to support the treaty."  
  
Robert waited almost breathlessly while Yu pondered his proposal. "I will encourage the System Lords to accept," he finally stated. "Now I will leave."  
  
Yu left. Jack looked to Robert. "That's a pretty big chance you just took. He might have gotten offended."  
  
"Given the day we've had," Robert replied, "I thought I'd test our luck. I'm glad it was still with us."  
  
"So am I," Jack said. "And now that we've settled that…"  
  
"I need to check on my people," Robert said. He frowned. "Including Meridina."  
  
"Right." Jack nodded. "I'll go debrief Hammond and the Secretaries."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Jack was already going through the door. "Don't worry about it," he called back over his shoulder.  
  
  
  
  
In the infirmary Robert saw only Lucy, being treated for her cuts by Opani and Fraiser. The latter was looking with some resigned jealousy at the tissue regenerator Opani was using on Lucy's wounds. "Don't feel bad about it, Doctor," he said to her. She turned to face him. "If the Goa'uld accept our changes, we'll be sharing more medical technology too."  
  
"That would be wonderful," Fraiser replied. "And it would make my job a lot easier."  
  
Robert looked over to Opani and Lucy. The latter looked distraught and exhausted. "How is she?"  
  
"Multiple lacerations, two cracked ribs, and bruising to her leg," replied Opani.  
  
"And Meridina?"  
  
Lucy's expression worsened. Opani saw it and sighed quietly. "Doctor Gillam still has her in surgery on the _Koenig_. He's removing what's left of the Goa'uld who took her over and working on her wounds."  
  
"How bad were they?"  
  
Lucy shook her head. "I had to run her through to stop her," Lucy admitted, her voice quiet and full of regret. "And to save her, I had to…" She swallowed. "I had to cut into her head."  
  
"You mean to kill the Goa'uld."  
  
"Yeah." Lucy shook her head. "I still don't know if I got it right. I may have cut too deep. There was so much blood…"  
  
"You did what you could," Robert assured her. "The important thing was to free Meridina from that thing."  
  
"Yeah." Lucy nodded. There were still dried tears in her eyes.  
  
"Hey." Robert pulled up a seat and sat beside her. He took her hand. "You saved her, Lucy."  
  
"Or I killed her," Lucy pointed out.  
  
"Given what happens with Goa'uld hosts…" Robert shook his head. "Those two might be considered the same thing."  
  
"I'm not sure they are. We can take Goa'ulds out of people. We can't bring life back to them."  
  
"Lucy…"  
  
Lucy gave him a hard look. "Robert, you're not Julia. Don't go pulling the mother hen thing on me." there was some heat in her voice. "Yes, you're right, and I know you're right, but that doesn't change my feelings about this. It's about what's in my heart, not my head. I nearly killed Meridina. Maybe I had to. I'm pretty sure she wanted me to. But she's come to mean a lot to me, so I'm still going to be upset with myself until I know whether she made it or not. Do you understand?"  
  
Robert said nothing for a moment before finally nodding. "Yes," he finally said. "I understand."  
  
And he said nothing more, simply remaining by his friend's side as she worked through her feelings.  
  
This turned out for the better, as both were present to hear Leo call down to say Meridina would be fine. Off-duty, and certainly not returning to the SGC now, but okay.  
  
  
  
  
The remaining negotiations were an afterthought. Cronus and Yu had concurred on the revisions Robert and Jack had asked for and the final agreement was signed.  
  
Now the three Goa'uld were due to leave. Nirrti was bound and held securely by Yu and Cronus, with SG-1 and Robert present to watch them go. After the Stargate activated Cronus looked to them. "We will not attack your world," Cronus said to Jack, "but if you continue to use the Stargate, know this. If any of your people are caught by the System Lords, they will suffer _greatly_."  
  
Jack responded in his usual non-chalant way. "Well, that will make things interesting."  
  
"The same is true for your people, Captain," Cronus said to Robert, looking at him. "We will be watching you."  
  
"We'll abide by the treaty as well as you will," Robert answered directly. "And I'll make sure to pass the message on."  
  
Cronus huffed and turned away. He and Yu dragged Nirrti with them into the Stargate, which closed a moment later.  
  
"Well, weren't they charmers?", Jack asked rhetorically.  
  
Robert looked to Daniel. "How is Sha're?", he asked.  
  
"Bruised and hurt, but she'll live." Daniel nodded in thanks. "Leo, our Leo, is with her now."  
  
"That's good to know." Robert looked to Jack. There was a thought now in his head. "Colonel, do you still have that calling device Thor gave you?"  
  
Jack looked thoughtful for a moment. Then his hands started patting his pockets, both on his uniform jacket and trousers, before one finally reached in and fished out the device. "Here. You need to talk to Thor?"  
  
"I have a couple of questions, yeah."  
  
"Fair enough." Jack handed the pinkish stone to Robert. For a moment Robert considered the device, with its carved runes around the bottom rim of the stone.  
  
Finally Robert brought the stone up to his mouth. "Thor? This is Captain Dale. If you have some time, I have a few questions."  
  
Silence.  
  
"It's about the Darglan," Robert continued. "And what they got from you. Since that's part of the treaty and everything I was hoping you'd share some information with me."  
  
Again, nothing responded.  
  
"The Asgard aren't always cooperative about things like that," Daniel said. "Usually it's things about how 'it is not your time to know' and…"  
  
Robert never heard Daniel finish the sentence. Light filled his vision and, in an instant even faster than the transporters he was used to, he found himself standing elsewhere. The room, while not outright dark, was not too bright either. A window was looking out at the Earth.  
  
He turned. Thor was in his chair. "Captain."  
  
"Supreme Commander." Robert nodded. He offered the stone.  
  
Thor waved his hand. The stone disappeared from Robert's hand in a flash of light. "You have questions," Thor said.  
  
"I do." Robert nodded. "The Darglan got technology from you. But you're thousands of years more advanced than they ever were. What did they have to trade for things like transporters and weapons technology?"  
  
"They had their labor and creativity," Thor replied.  
  
Robert blinked at that. "That's it?"  
  
"They provided a great service to the Asgard, to the longevity and progress of our species."  
  
"Okay." Robert nodded at that. "So you gave them weapons. Which you refuse to give to anyone facing the Goa'uld now. Why then? Why would the Darglan even need your weapons? Was it because of whatever it was they were fighting?"  
  
Thor was silent for a moment. His large head finally nodded slightly. "You are aware of the war they fought?"  
  
"I found the evidence of it. A Darglan facility, attacked and damaged by an unknown foe that forced the Darglan to destroy themselves to stop them." Robert took a slight step forward. "Do you know anything about this threat?"  
  
"I know little more than you," Thor stated. "The Darglan cut all contact shortly after the war began. They were trying to keep their enemy from discovering our universe. The prospect of an invasion alone drove us into alliance with the Goa'uld to stop it."  
  
Robert blinked. It was that bad? "Who were these people?"  
  
"That is unknown to us."  
  
Robert frowned at that.  
  
Thor looked up to speak again. "Be careful with how you use the interuniversal drive. Not all universes are alike. There are parts of reality we should never come into contact with."  
  
Before Robert could speak anything else, the transporter whisked him away.  
  
  
  
  
**Tag**  
  
  
Only a day after the Goa'uld left, it was the turn of the Alliance team. They would be going home on the _Koenig_ instead of by Stargate.  
  
Nevertheless, they were departing from the Gate Room. Robert, Opani, Lucy, and Onaram were lined up opposite from the SG-1 team members, Hammond, Fraiser, and Secretary Simms. The two government secretaries were conversing quietly at the end of the line. Hammond offered his hand to Robert and the others, which was accepted. "It was good to finally meet you, Captain Dale," he said.  
  
"Thank you, General Hammond," Robert answered.  
  
"And I've been meaning to ask…" A small smile crossed General Hammond's face. He pointed a finger at Robert. "Kansas, right?"  
  
Robert didn't bother to fight the grin that split his face. "Yes sir. Texas?"  
  
"Of course." Hammond nodded. "Take care of yourself, Captain. It may be a while, but I'd like to see you and your fine crew come back here in one piece."  
  
"I'll do my best, sir."  
  
While Robert went to exchange goodbyes with Jack, Lucy was met by Daniel. "Listen," he began, "I want to say thank you. You saved my life, and my son."  
  
Lucy nodded quietly. "Yeah."  
  
"I'm sorry you had to hurt your mentor to do it," Daniel said. "I know that hurt you deeply."  
  
"It did." Lucy sighed and eyed him directly. "But you don't need to apologize for it, Doctor Jackson. It's what Meridina wanted. She would never allow herself to be more important than an innocent life."  
  
"I hope she feels better soon. Between the Goa'uld and actual breathing Nazis and all the other bad things out there, we need more people like Meridina." Daniel's expression turned thoughtful. "She's going to need someone there for her, for a while I mean. Being taken as a host… I've seen what that does to survivors."  
  
Lucy nodded. "I'll be there for her, Doctor Jackson, don't worry."  
  
"I didn't think otherwise. Just be sure someone is there for you too." Daniel glanced toward his comrades, making clear what he meant.  
  
Gradually the goodbyes ended. Robert looked at his people and gave a final nod to Jack and the others. "Good luck out there, Colonel. And whatever the treaty says… I hope you give the Goa'uld a black eye whenever they need it."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure we'll be running into them quite often," Jack answered. "The jerks are everywhere." He motioned to Robert. "Now you guys take care too. Shoot up a Nazi for me, will you?"  
  
"Too bad you can't come and shoot some yourself," Lucy said, finally grinning a little.  
  
"That would be a break from the usual," Sam remarked, matching the grin.  
  
"Well, who knows, maybe we'll get to eventually." Jack gave a look to General Hammond, who smirked and shook his head. "Until then, though, we'll leave the Nazis and other nasties out there in that big, weird Multiverse to you guys, and you can leave the Goa'uld to us. Deal?"  
  
"It's a deal," Robert agreed. He gave Jack one last handshake before reaching for his multi-device. He hit the commkey. "Dale to _Koenig_."  
  
"Koenig _here_ ," replied Zack.  
  
"Zack, you were supposed to come over for beer, remember?", Jack protested.  
  
A short chuckle came from the other end. " _Yeah. Some other time, Jack, some other time. Rob?_ "  
  
"Four to beam up," Robert said. "We're going home."  
  
"Farewell," Teal'c said, finally joining in.  
  
"May the Deity stand between you and harm wherever your journeys take you," Opani replied to SG-1 in total.  
  
A moment later, all four of them were whisked away by the _Koenig_ transporters.  
  
  
  
  
The _Aurora_ met them on the way between Earth and Abydos. Once the ship was docked Robert went to his quarters to finish his report and file it with Admiral Maran's office.  
  
He was near the end when the door chime sounded. He looked up and called out, "Come in." Julia entered the door and, of course, presented him with a digital pad. "Let me guess," Robert sighed. "Personnel paperwork?"  
  
"I've done most of the hard work," Julia said, smiling sweetly. "They just need your signature."  
  
"Anything I should know?"  
  
"We've had a few promotions finish going through, and so we have some transfers." Julia took a seat on the other side of his desk. She pulled her right leg up to set the right foot on her left knee.  
  
"Still not as bad as things were last year, though," Robert noted. "Anything else I should know?"  
  
"Well, Admiral Relini just won a battle at Pi Sagaron. Intelligence thinks the Nazis may be abandoning that sector by the end of the month." Julia seemed to think on things. "The new Alliance ambassador accredited to the Citadel finished that trade deal with the Turians and Volus everyone's been talking about…"  
  
"I'm sure it's imperative that I know how quickly I can invest in the Volus-run markets on the Citadel," Robert snorted.  
  
Julia smirked. "Apparently you impressed on Luthien, Coordinator Kurita just dispatched a permanent ambassador to Portland."  
  
"Ah." Robert nodded. "It's a very good thing I didn't say anything about the smog, then."  
  
"Very." Julia's smirk turned into a wide smile. "I think that's about it. Although I think Angel's gotten pretty worked up since you were gone, you might have some trouble tonight."  
  
At that Robert leveled a playful glare at Julia. "You have entirely too much fun finding humor in my love life."  
  
"I'm the one who gets the bruises when Angel's worked up and I'm the only one giving her an outlet for it, remember?", Julia pointed out, the smile still on her face. The smile shifted slightly. "And don't you _dare_ re-interpret that."  
  
The grin that appeared on Robert's face spoke to the thought that had already been coming up. "Wouldn't dream of it."  
  
"She's your girlfriend, not mine. I mean, outside of the platonic sense."  
  
Robert made an exaggerated sigh of resignation. "Well, drat. There goes _that_ fantasy."  
  
Julia's green eyes narrowed slightly. "I can kick your ass, you know. Mind powers or no mind powers."  
  
"Life force powers, and yes, I know. I have nightmares about you and Angel kicking my ass in the ring. Though there was that one time…"  
  
That earned him a playful kick to his shin under the desk. Robert winced briefly, but the grin didn't disappear.  
  
Julia's grin turned somber, although it didn't disappear. "Meridina?", she asked.  
  
Robert's grin faded. "Leo said she was healed enough to go into her quarters. The surgery was easier this time, less complicated on account of the fact that Lucy cut the Goa'uld in her head into two very dead pieces."  
  
Julia winced and shuddered. "You know, when Sha're talked about what was done to her… I couldn't let myself imagine what it must be like. I still can't. And from what I've heard, Amaunet used Meridina to kill several of General Hammond's people."  
  
"Five fatalities to the SGC," Robert confirmed. "Would have been more if Amaunet hadn't been in a hurry, and if Lucy hadn't been there..."  
  
Julia nodded at that. A sad look came to her eyes where the mirth of their prior exchange had once glistened. "You've talked to her?"  
  
"Tried. She needs time to process it," Robert said. "But she's strong. She'll bounce back."  
  
"Yeah." Julia sounded like she was trying to be confident of that assessment, as opposed to completely believing it. "Yeah, she will."  
  
  
  
  
Lucy finished her own report, put her things up, caught up on some missed work - the _Rio Grande_ , her baby, had needed a re-calibration of the warp field array - and finally made her way to the quarters on Deck 4. Meridina's name was on the space by the door. Lucy hit the chime key.  
  
No answer.  
  
Lucy sighed and took a moment to concentrate. Meridina's sorrow and horror, intense guilt rippling through it, rolled through her mind. She hit the chime again. "Meridina, it's me," Lucy said.  
  
This time the door opened. The quarters inside were dim. Soft sobs were coming from the bedroom.  
  
Lucy walked through Meridina's well-kept living area to her bedroom. Meridina was seated upon the simple bed wearing a sleeveless sleeping vest and shorts of faded white coloring. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was hunched over, head almost parallel with the floor, sobbing.  
  
"Meridina," Lucy said gently. She walked over and sat beside her mentor. With a careful movement she set a hand on Meridina's nearly-bare shoulder.  
  
_I am corrupted_ , was the telepathic reply. _The darkness is in me it's in me I am corrupted…_  
  
"No." Lucy shook her head. She bent over and put her right arm around Meridina's shoulders. "That wasn't you."  
  
Meridina continued to weep. Thoughts of how the darkness had touched her being, how it was still in her, seeped into Lucy's mind. She held Meridina and pulled her into a full sitting position on the bed. Her other arm came up and she took her teacher, her friend, into an embrace.  
  
Meridina accepted the embrace, her arms coming up to take hold of Lucy. She buried her face into Lucy's shoulder and continued to weep.  
  
Lucy did the only thing she could do in that situation.  
  
She did nothing. Nothing but hold on and allow her friend to deal with her suffering.


End file.
